Almost A Normal Life
by Losthybridgirl
Summary: I had to re-upload the story because I'm an idiot and I accidently deleted the whole thing while trying to edit one chapter..I'm stupid. Two months after escaping Antigen, Selene is on the hunt for Michael, but a new enemy wants her daughter. Will protecting Eve mean losing the only man she's ever loved forever? Takes place directly after Awakening/during Blood Wars.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Selene stood in the doorway of the safehouse watching her daughter stare out the window at the street below. David and Sebastian had taken turns staying with Eve while Selene had been out trying to find Michael and they constantly brought things the girls needed, blood bags, clothes for Eve, books. David had found a fully furnished two bedroom apartment for them to stay in obviously abandoned during the purge if the family pictures they'd found scattered around and the food still in the refridgerater were any indication.

"Eve, get away from the window please, someone might see you."

Eve moved to the couch, sitting next to Selene tucking her legs under her and sighed.

"I'm sorry Mom, I'm just bored. I've read all the books David and Sebastian brought a couple weeks ago."

Selene reached out stroking her daughter's long dark hair, a lump rising in her throat as she noted, yet again, how much the girl resembled her father, a father she may never get to meet.

"What do you like to read?"

"My favorite series is Harry Potter, my caretaker in Antigen brought them for me, her name was Lida. She was the only one who was kind to me, she comforted me after all the horrible tests the doctors put me through. She taught me to read when I was four. She'd let me play games and listen to music on her iPad sometimes."

Selene felt a sudden spark of jealousy toward the woman who had raised her daughter and for all intents and purposes been her mother for the first twelve years of her life, but stronger than the jealousy was a feeling of gratitude toward this kind stranger.

I only hope I get the chance to thank her for her kindness someday' Selene thought to herself as she listened to Eve talk about her life in Antigen.

"Maybe David or Sebastian can get you some video games if you'd like or maybe some puzzles, if you're bored with books, would you like that?"

Eve nodded, a smile lighting her face.

Maybe I can get an iPad?" she asked shyly, a note of eagerness creeping into her voice. "Lita used to let me play Candy Crush and Angry Birds, those are fun. She made me play Sudoku too to teach me math skills, it was really boring, I like the other games more, especially Candy Crush, it was fun."

Selene frowned, not liking the thought of Eve having something like an iPad or unsupervised access to the internet which Sebastian had gotten hooked up for her to aide in her search for Michael. David had brought her a laptop on his last visit as well. In the two months since they'd escaped Antigen, Eve had sensed her father a couple of times but each time he'd moved on by the time they arrived ar the location Eve had seen him in. Selene was getting frustrated by the lack of progress in her search for her elusive hybrid lover, but she refused to give up, no matter how much searching she had to do, she'd find him come hell or high water.

"Mom, how about one of those, would that be alright?"

The distracted death dealer looked at the TV where a commercial for something called a Nintendo 3DS was playing. Selene wasn't entirely sure what it was but it appeared to be a portable video game of some kind. Something like that would be much better for Eve to play with than an iPad, the last thing they needed was her talking to strangers online, not only was she only twelve years old, but no one could be trusted, if anyone from Antigen found them...she shuddered at the thought.

Selene glanced at the clock on the wall and turned off the TV.

It's 10:00 P.M., time for bed, Eve."

The young hybrid rose and kissed her mother's cheek before going into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth before bed.

"Goidnight Mom, love you see you in the morning."

Selene smiled affectionately.

"I love you too, Eve, goodnight. Sleep well, love."

It had taken both Selene and Eve a while to get comfortable with showing affection, but over time, it had gotten easier as they grew more comfortable around each other. There was once a time the six hundred plus year old vampiress had been nothing but a cold hearted assassin whose only passion in life came from filling lycans full of white hot silver. But that all changed one fateful night in a subway station in Budapest. Selene shook her head to dispel the memory of the first time she saw Michael in the subway and turned to the computer to make sure the video game her daughter wanted was appropriate and didn't contain anything that could lead to trouble. After half an hour of research, she called David.

Hello?" David turned down the volume on his TV as he answered his phone.

David, it's Selene, I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I was watching the news for any suspicious goings on in the city,what's up?"

"Would you mind running a small errand for me? Eve wants something called a 3DS that she saw advertised on TV, it's a handheld video game. She wanted an iPad but I really don't think that's the best idea for her to have free reign with the internet, we can't be around to supervise her 24\7 and from what I read online, this game thing has parental controls on it so anything she shouldn't have access to can be blocked. I don't see the harm in it, I feel bad keeping her cooped up here constantly. She's restless and bored and sometimes I feel like she resents me for being so overprotective all the time."

"Okay, I'll go get one for her, what kind of games would she want?"

"I have no idea honestly, she likes puzzles and she mentioned some game called Angry birds, just use your own judgement and make sure that whatever games you get are age appropriate please. Also, her favorite color is purple so get her a purple one if possible."

"Okay, no problem, I'll get her some accessories for it too, extra stylus pens, a carrying case, a box to keep her games in. Is there anything you want while I'm out? More blood bags?"

"We are running low, yes, we only have about five or so left, it will only last a day or two, thanks David, see you soon."

She hung up the phone and went to Eve's room to check on her. She was asleep on her side with her hands tucked under her head and the small red iPod Sebastian had given her on the pillow, carefully removing the earbuds from her sleeping daughter's ears, Selene turned off the iPod and set it on the nightstand beside the bed. Eve's face was serene, in slumber, she looked like any other twelve year old little girl, anyone who saw her now would never suspect the unbelieveable strength and power she possessed.

"Sleep well my angel." Selene whispered, softly kissing Eve's cheek. She heard a knock on the front door and quickly went to answer it. David walked in setting his bags on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen putting the blood bags in the fridge.

"I got Eve's 3DS, I had to go to two different stores to find a purple one."

He sat on the couch removing things from a bag as he spoke and spreading them out on the table for Selene's inspection as he began reading the instructions and setting up the parental controls. Selend looked at the games David had bought curiously, Angry birds, the game Eve had mentioned, Tetris, which appeared to be a puzzle game of some sort, Super Mario brothers and something called Fire Emblem.

"Okay, done, I blocked everything except the 3D, there's no internet, no app store, all she can do is play games on it and I'm the only one who knows the passcode, so she can't unblock anything, I'd have to do it for her."

He put the game cartridges into the small plastic case he'd bought for them and placed the DS and charger into a seperate carrying case and placed them on the table for Eve to find in the morning.

Selene smiled at the younger vampire.

"Thank you, David, I hope this makes up for me keeping her inside all the time, I know she's bored and unhappy, but it's too dangerous for her to be outside unless it's absolutely necessary.""

Before David could reply, they were alerted to danger by the sound of terrified screams coming from Eve's room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Disclaimer and AN: I removed all those stupid p's at the beginning and end of each paragraph, Not sure how they got there, sorry about that guys. I'm working very hard to get everything back on track. As usual I own nothing.

Selene grabbed her gun from its holster and raced toward her daughter's bedroom with David close at her heels. He quickly flicked the light on flooding the room in sudden brightness. Eve sat up in bed blinking at the unexpected light with tears streaming down her cheeks, her sweaty hair stuck to her neck and the blankets tangled around her, evidence of her restless sleep.

"Another nightmare baby," Selene sat on the edge of Eve's bed and wrapped her arms around her trembling daughter. Eve shook her head, her voice muffled as she buried her head in Selene's shoulder.

"N...not...not exactly, it was Dad, I...I saw through his eyes again. I think I know where he is, but I think he's in trouble."

Selene pulled back looking at Eve in shock.

"What do you mean he's in trouble? What did you see?"

David held his hand up to silence the frantic death dealer.

"Selene, she just woke up, give her a minute. Why don't we go into the living room and talk? Eve can get a drink, maybe open her present, everyone can calm down a bit and then we can figure everything out okay? Come on."

He led them into the living room and went into the kitchen to get Eve a glass of water. Eve sat on the couch rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She took the glass David handed her and took a drink before speaking.

"Thank you. I saw Daddy, he was in a big room, it looked like a warehouse, some kind of storage facility or something. There were people everywhere but he was in a closet or something, hanging upside down by his feet. He kept repeating, "Where am I? Where's Selene? Who the hell are you people?"

Selene reached over and took Eve's hand as she took another drink of water and set the empty cup on the table.

"Then what happened love?"

"This guy walked up and stood in front of Dad with a huge knife in his hand. He had black hair and dark skin, he looked Native American or Mexican, it was hard to tell. He mentioned someone named Lucian, one of the other people in the room callled the man Marius and that's when I woke up."

Selene reached over to the coffee table and picked up the lavendar gift bag and placed it in Eve's lap.

"Now I know you want an iPad, but I think twelve is still a bit too young for that so I got you something else, instead. Well, David picked it out, but I asked him to. I hope you like it."

Eve reached into the bag looking confused as she pulled out the DS case.

"What is this?"

David grinned.

"Open it and find out."

They watched as she unzipped the case and pulled out the 3DS.

"It's the video game I saw on TV, thank you, but how did you know my favorite color is purple?"

David smirked.

"A little birdy told me, look in the bag, there's more."

Her face lit up as she pulled the rest of the stuff out of the bag.

She jumped up, hugging them both.

"Oh, thank you, Mom, thank you, David.

Selene returned her daughter's hug.

"You're welcome. It's late Evie, you should go back to bed. I need to talk to David for awhile. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay, night Mama, night David."

"Goodnight,Princess, sweet dreams."

Eve blushed as she closed her bedroom door and climbed back into bed, setting her gifts on the bedside table. She liked it when David called her princess, she would never admit it, but she had a huge crush on him, she had since the first time she met him after she'd been bitten by the lycan and he'd taken her and her mother to his father's coven. Eve turned her iPod on and put her earbuds in, humming along to a Miley Cyrus song as she snuggled into her blankets, falling asleep again.

Selene and David sat huddled over the kitchen table, maps spread out before them, discussing Eve's 'dream'.

"She said this Marius invoked Lucian's name, do you think he could be the new leader of the lycan hoard? I know they've been scattered and hiding since the purge happened but we knew they'd regroup eventually and if this Marius really is their new leader, they'll be stronger than ever especially if...they have Michael. His blood will make their powers limitless."

David stood up.

"Why don't you get some rest? I'm going to go talk to my father, see if he knows anything about this Marius."

Selene nodded rising from her chair.

"Thank you, David, please let me know what you find out and thank you again for finding the DS for Eve."

David smiled as he opened the door.

"No problem, I'd do anything for that little girl."

Then he disappeared into the night.

Thomas glared at his son pacing before him.

"Why should we help her and her child? Have you forgotten she killed two of our elders?"

David spun to face his father, his eyes glowing blue and bared his fangs in anger.

"No, of course I haven't forgotten, how could I, you bring it up every time I so much as mention her name. Need I remind you Father, she saved my life and you also gave her daughter back to Antigen, the way I see it, we owe her. Now, tell me what you know about the leader of the lycan clan."

Thomas stepped forward, pinning David to the wall with his fist around his son's throat.

"You watch how you speak to me, boy, unless you want to join your mother."

David pushed his father back breaking the older vampire's hold on his throat.

"Don't threaten me and don't you dare drag Mother into this, just tell me what I want to know Father. Stop holding a bloody grudge against Selene, that all happened a long time ago, she's proven herself loyal a million times over by now and as for Eve, she's a child, stop holding her responsible for who her father is, she has no control over that. Lord knows if children could choose their parents I wouldn't have had to endure your tyranny and abuse all my life."

"Fine, you have a point, the lycan leader's name is Marius, it would be best if the child disappears without a trace, so not even her mother knows where she is."

David stared at his father in shock.

"Are you crazy? There's no way in hell Selene would agree to send Eve away without knowing where she is, a twelve year old girl can't be on her own with no adult supervision."

Thomas smirked, folding his arms.

"The child is not an ordinary human child, she was raised in captivity, she had no one to care for her since birth, except perhaps some lab technician or other, she's used to being alone. Besides, think about it, the leader of the lycans is going to be on the hunt for her and her father, if he finds Selene all he has to do is drink her blood and he'll see where the child is in her memory, if Eve leaves and not even Selene knows where she is, no one else will either, the child will be much safer if she just vanishes with no trace."

David sighed, he hated to admit it, but what his father said made sense, the less people who knew where Eve was, the better off she'd be, he just hoped Selene would agree to it, she wasn't his father's biggest fan to put it mildly.

"Okay, I'll talk to Selene as soon as possible and see what she says about this, thank you for finally hearing me out Father. Goodnight."

David waited until his father was out of earshot before pulling out his phone and dialing.

"Selene, it's David, I have information on Marius and a plan but I'm afraid you're not going to like it."


	3. Chapter 3

.Chapter Three

Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing except the plot of this story, all characters belong to Len Wiseman.

He stood on the bridge watching the woman he loved marvel at the sunrise, the first one she'd seen in over six hundred years, since Viktor made her a vampire and killed her family. She stared at the sun shining on her hand as if seeing diamonds and he felt a lump swell his throat at how beautiful she looked standing in the sunlight that Alexander Corvinus' blood had made her immune to. She looked up as he stepped from the doorway of William's prison, the prison her father had built and smiled as he drew ever closer on the rickity old bridge. Even though he was shirtless and dirty, his upper body streaked with dust and sweat from his battle with the massive werewolf, you'd think he was decked out in Armani from the look on Selene's face. Tears spilled down her cheeks as he cupped her face in his hand and crushed his lips to hers.

Snap!

Michael's eyes flew open, the pleasant dream gone as pain lanced across his bare back. The man who he'd seen when he first regained consciousness and found himself in this strange cold room walked around his strung up body, a cat of nine tails clasped in one fist. He appeared upside down as Michael was strung upside down by his feet by a rope hanging from a rafter. His feet and legs had gone numb days ago and between that and the beatings he kept recieving from whoever these assholes were, he just wished they'd kill him and get it over with. His head felt like it was splitting in half and he was so thirsty that he couldn't even swallow, all the saliva in his mouth had dried up and his tongue felt like sandpaper, his lips chapped and swollen. He hadn't fed in God knows how long and his stomach growled and twisted painfully. He felt like he was gonna puke but since his stomach was empty all he did was dry heave.

"Where is she?" The man who Michael had heard someone call Marius glared at him as he idly toyed with the whip he held, wrapping one of the tails lazily around his finger, the razor blade on the end stained crimson with the hybrid's blood.

Michael sighed tiredly.

"For the last damned time, I don't know anyone named Selene and I don't have a daughter."

Michael's eyes filled with tears as he pictured his beautiful leather clad lover. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been standing at the end of the pier preparing to escape the purge on a boat when she'd come barreling toward him full speed screaming his name, the next thing he knew, some kind of grenade hit him in the chest knocking him backwards into the water. His next conscious memory was of waking up locked in a freezer that was rapidly defrosting from a bullet hole in the glass. A bullet hole he prayed had been put there by Selene to help him escape. He had just pulled his jeans on and was reaching for his shirt when a large hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and he was knocked unconscious, when he woke up again, he was here in this building strung up like a side of beef in a slaughter house being whipped and tormented by strangers. Even Lucian had treated him better than this, Michael thought sarcastically to himself as he sneered at the man in front of him, lycan by the smell of him. He'd die before he'd say a word about Selene. Michael lifted his exhausted eyes to meet his captor's.

"Oh wait, there is something I've been meaning to tell you."

Marius smiled triumphantly.

"Well,well, I knew you'd break eventually, what is it you have for me?"

Smirking, Michael raised his right hand and slowly lifted his middle finger.

Marius shook his head in mock sadness.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Corvin, you are really gonna wish you hadn't done that."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

Eve lay on her stomach on her bed flipping through channels on the TV. She used to watch TV with her mother when they first started staying here but she quickly grew bored as all Selene ever watched was the news which seemed to repeat the same stories over and over everyday, so Eve was extremely excited when she discovered the TV in her bedroom. She stopped on Disney Channel and turned the volume down as she heard angry voices coming from the living room.

"David, I don't give a crap what your father thinks is best, I am not sending Eve away. What is wrong with you, I thought you were on my side, I never dreamed you'd become a turncoat."

Eve crouched on the floor of her room peering through a crack in the door. Her mother was glaring at David as she paced angrily, her hands clenched into fists and a scowl on her face.

David sighed.

"Selene, I know how you feel, I reacted exactly the same way at first, I don't want Eve to go away, I love her too, she's like the little sister I never had. But think about it, wouldn't it be better knowing she was out there somewhere hidden where no one can find her than to take a chance on Marius or someone he knows kidnapping her and God forbid hurting her or..."

Selene glanced anxiously toward Eve's bedroom door, where the sound of some cartoon could be heard, she only hoped the TV was loud enough to drown out their conversation.

"Sssh, keep your voice down, if she hears what we're talking about, she'll be scared to death. She's been through enough recently, I don't want to upset her even more. I understand what you're saying, my daughter's safety is my top priority, I'm just so scared to send her off by herself to God knows where, but I understand why it's necessary in order to keep her safe, just give me a chance to talk to Eve and explain things to her, saying she's not gonna take this well is a massive understatement."

David nodded, heading toward the door.

"I'm gonna go, give you and Eve some time together, I never meant to hurt you, I swear, I'm so sorry, Selene."

David's eyes widened in surprise as Selene suddenly stepped forward and hugged him.

"I love you, David, I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for us, risking your father's anger just to help me, I can never repay you for that."

Eve backed away from the door, a shocked expression on her face, she sat on her bed feeling numb as her eyes slowly filled with tears. Everything got blurry as the tears spilled down her cheeks. She took her iPod from the nightstand beside her bed and slowly peeled off the red rubber case. The iPod was white with a silver back and it was her most prized possession. She felt the mattress sink slightly as her mother sat on the bed beside her and gently took the iPod out of her hands and put the case back on it sitting it aside.

"Eve, look at me, Sweetheart. You overheard the conversation between David and I didn't you? That's why you're crying, isn't it, and that's why you were fiddling with your iPod when I came in, so I wouldn't see the tears,"

Eve wiped the tears off her face and nodded as she looked up, meeting her mother's worried eyes.

"I overheard part of it, do you really want to send me away?"

Selene sighed pulling Eve into her arms.

"My darling girl, I love you more than anything else in the world, sending you away is the last thing on earth I want to do, but losing you for a little while is the only way to ensure you stay safe, if anything ever happened to you..."

Eve hugged Selene as she began to cry softly.

"Please don't cry, Mama, I promise I'll be alright. I had to grow up really fast, I'm good at taking care of myself. I love you so much, when I was a little girl, I used to daydream about what you and Dad would be like if I ever got to meet you, they told me you died when I was born,but I knew it wasn't true. I know you're sending me away to keep me safe, but no matter how far apart we are in distance, we'll always be together in our hearts."

Eve took a pair of scissors from her bedside drawer and cut a lock of her hair, wrapping it around her fingers into a coil, she handed it to Selene.

"Now you'll always have a peice of me with you no matter where I am."

Selene left the room and came back a few minutes later with a small red velvet box in her hand.

"I was going to save this for Christmas, but under the circumstances, it seems more appropriate to give it to you now, I hope you like it."

Eve opened the box to find a silver oval shaped locket engraved with a letter E. She pulled it from the box and smiled.

"Thanks Mom, it's beautiful, it's the nicest present anyone ever gave me, I love it. Help me put it on."

Selene smiled, taking the locket from Eve and opened it, revealing a picture of her and Michael inside.

"This is the only picture of me and your father I have. I made a copy and had the jeweler put it into the locket for you, so until we're together again, your dad and I will always be with you."

Eve moved her hair aside as Selene fastened the locket around her neck and smiled.

"It looks beautiful on you, Sweetheart, I'm glad you like it."

Selene helped Eve pack and hugged her one last time.

"Goodbye, my darling, I love you forever, we'll see each other again soon, I promise. Stay safe my love."

Eve hugged her mother one last time, Selene watched as she ran down the sidewalk and disappeared from sight, then she walked back inside and prepared to leave. It was time to find Michael and bring him home.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Disclaimer and A/N: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, been busy with the holidays, plus I've had zero inspiration lately, writer's block sucks. So, I thought if I took a break for awhile, an idea for the next chapter might come to me and sure enough, it did. I'm not sure yet how long this story will be,but if it's too long, I may make it into two stories, I don't want people to get bored. As always, please read review. I apologize for how boring this chapter is, this is basically just a rewrite of the scene in the movie explaining how they get to the eastern coven, but once they arrive it will pick up again and it won't be just regurgitating the movie like this chapter is, I swear. Please bear with me.

David walked down a dark alley, his senses keened for any signs of danger. His shoes crunched over broken beer bottles and discarded trash as he walked and he picked up speed as he warily eyed a homeless man becoming violently ill leaning against a wall. He saw lights up ahead and heard the sounds of fighting coming from what appeared to be a garage of some sort. He had been trailing Selene ever since he went to the apartment and found it deserted, all of her and Eve's stuff gone. As he entered the garage, he saw Selene surrounded by lycans, clearly outnumbered. Before he could step in to help, she shot one of them, pinning him against the wall, her eyes transforming to vampire blue as she shot a lycan between the eyes.

He heard growls behind him and turned, firing rapidly at the lycan sneaking up on him before turning back to Selene.

"You're a hard person to keep track of, I went by the apartment and it was empty, why did you take off without saying goodbye, after all I did for you, you at least owe me that much, don't you think? Have you had any luck finding Michael?"

"Stop tracking me, Thank you for the help but I don't need you."

She snapped angrily and David thought he heard the hint of tears in her voice, he stepped forward placing a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away as if his touch burned. He sighed.

"I'm not tracking you, I'm looking for Eve, the more I think about it, the more I believe my father was wrong, we shouldn't have sent her away. If I can find her, I can keep her safe, she's too young to be on her own."

"Well, it's a bit too late for that, don't you think? Your father was right, she is better off vanished, I could never be a proper mother to her, the kind she needs, I don't have it in me."

David's voice softened, he could see the pain she was in even if she herself didn't want to admit it.

"That's not true, Eve loves you and I know you love her, I've seen it, you're really not the cold hearted bitch you pretend to be."

"Are you sure about that? I'm the very last person who could help you find my daughter."

"Selene, listen to me, the lycans are moving again, they've regrouped, just like you predicted they would, you were right about Marius being their new leader. Your daughter's blood is a prize to them, if they find her they'll be unstoppable."

She turned striding toward the lycan who was struggling to his feet.

"Tell your Marius if he thinks he can extract information from me to locate my daughter, he can't. I don't know where she is and I don't want to know. Grunt if you understand."

The lycan glared at her.

"Marius will find you."

She shot him again.

"Do you understand your message?"

She heard a noise behind her and turned in time to see David fall to his knees, blood spurting from a bullet hole in his chest. She knelt beside him assessing the wound.

"Can you walk?"

He nodded as she helped him to his feet.

"I'll manage, we need to get out of here, find a safe house, we need to get as far away from here as possible."

Selene followed David down back alleys and side streets until at last they arrived at an abandoned warehouse. David looked around warily seeing the cameras mounted high above their heads.

"We can't stay here long, those cameras show which safe houses are active, someone could've picked us up already. We need to move on as soon as possible."

Selene was busy pulling things out of her duffel bag.

"Take your shirt off, we need to get that bullet out."

David squeezed his eyes shut trying to muffle his moans of pain as she sliced open his chest and extracted the bullet.

"Hurry up, this fucking hurts."

She gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry, the thing is moving and you're healing faster than I can grab it. Wait...got it."

She pulled it out and held it up, the drill bit type end still spinning. David looked confused.

"What exactly is that?"

"I have no idea, I've never seen anything like this before, but I think you're right, we need to leave as quickly as possible."

"Ahem,"

They both turned in surprise to see a short auburn haired woman enter the room. Selene eyed her warily, her hand resting on the butt of her pistol, just in case trouble presented itself.

The stranger spoke.

"My name is Alexia, I come from the Eastern coven, we watch these safehouses to see which ones are active, I've come here with a proposition for you."

"What sort of propositotin?"

Alexia smirked at the doubtful tone in David's voice, it was obvious he didn'r trust her as well he oughtn't, but if she accomplished what she set out to do, Semira would be very pleased and Marius would be one step closer to his ultimate goal. Her plan had to go off without a hitch.

"We wish to offer you clemency, the council has decided to grant you pardon for killing the elders, they seem to believe that you have somehow redeemed yourself, they wish to speak to you in person so they can officially pardon you."

Selene took the note the woman handed her and read it quickly, then shouldered her bag and gestured for David to follow.

"Let's go."

David followed relunctantly getting into the car parked outside the safehouse, he spoke in a whisper hoping the driver and the strange woman in the passenger seat wouldn't overhear.

"How can you be sure that note is legit, we could be walking straight into a trap for all we know. This isn't like you to just blindly trust people, you're usually so cautious it borders on paranoid at times, yet you just blindly trust total strangers, this is not like you at all, what gives Selene?"

She stared out the window at the moon as she spoke, refusing to look at him or try to hide the tears rolling slowly down her cheeks, her heart had shattered when she sent her baby girl away and she no longer cared who knew it.

"Look out the window, another new moon in a thousand years of new moons and I don't care to see it, why should I? Do you really think the council is going to pardon me after I killed two elders? Not likely. I hope they do kill me, everything I ever loved has been stolen from me, first my human family, then Viktor who I trusted more than anyone betrayed me and I lost my coven, my love, my daughter all gone, I'm finished with this war, David. I have no more to give, I'm tired, I want to rest for once."

Before David could respond, they pulled up in front of a dark foreboding mansion.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright inftingement is intended.

Varga watched as Semira paced from one side of her chambers to the other, her black skirt flaring with every turn.

"This is my coven, MINE, I don't care what the council says, I won't just hand it over to anyone, especially not Viktor's killer and that boy that trails after her like some mangy cur after a bitch in heat."

Varga smirked.

"So, what exactly do you intend to do about it? You heard Cassius, David is the son of Amelia, by right of birth this is his coven, he's not gonna just hand it over to you."

She turned on him, her eyes flashing in anger.

"You think I don't know that? That my love is where you come in."

She walked around him trailing her nails across his naked chest leaving faint scratches that healed instantly. Varga reached out gripping her wrist in his fist and squeezing so hard she gasped.

"If I help you, what's in it for me? I don't do anything for free, I always expect something in return. Really Semira, I thougt you of all people would know that by now."

She glanced disdainfully at the bed, where they'd spent the better part of the daylight hours. When next she spoke, her voice dripped sarcasm.

"What's the matter lover, multiple orgasms not enough for you? Don't worry, once David and Selene have been dealt with and the coven is once again under my command, you shall rule at my right hand."

He smiled in anticipation as he slipped on a pair of black gloves and withdrawing a small vial of poison from the inside pocket of his brown leather jacket, he took a small silver hunting knife from the table and soaking a rag with the poison, wiped the blade of the knife making sure to soak it completely, then threw the piosoned rag into the fire watching it burn.

"She's training Death Dealers now, let's go."

Making sure the poisoned knife was within easy reach but still well hidden, Varga followed his queen from her room and into the large training area. He spoke loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, enough weapons training for today, time to move on to physical combat. For this exercise, I will play the role of lycan attacking the fortress, Selene will be the Death Dealer trying to protect it."

Selene smiled as she stepped into the fighting ring, eyeing Varga.

'Looking for weaknesses, no doubt,' he thought to himself as he dodged a kick aimed at his head, 'but is she in for a surprise.'

"How many lycans do you think you've killed?" Selene inquired as she sidestepped rhe foot flying toward her chest.

"Forty, you?" Varga asked causually, but before Selene could answer, he lunged forward sinking the knife blade into her stomach.

She cried out in pain as she fell to the floor.

'What is happening to me?' She wondered as she felt the numbness spreading through her body. Her vision blurred and voices seemed to echo from far away as she fought against the lethargy stealing over her body. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she glared up at Varga.

"I'll...kill...you," she gasped weakly.

Her lungs were on fire and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Semira leered down at the helpless Death Dealer on the floor before savagely kicking her in the ribs.

"My, my but you really are stupid, aren't you? Did you really think I needed you to train Death Dealers? I have Varga for that. I just used that as an excuse to get you here so I could exact my revenge on you for killing Viktor and for stealing Kraven's affection from me."

"Kraven was...a sexist pig and Viktor..."

She was suddenly seized by a violent fit of coughing. Suddenly, her vision zeroed in sharply and the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was her daughter screaming in agony, then everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer & AN:

I skipped ahead a little in this chapter in order to move the story forward a bit faster. Selene and David have now been at Lena's coven for about a week and some very crazy stuff is about to go down. As usual, I don't own them.

I apologize for not getting this chapter up sooner, I've been sick and didn't feel like writing, I could barely keep my eyes open and slept for almost two days straight, this flu gong around sucks, if I'd attempted to write while out of it on Nyquil, God knows what might have happened, I'd probably have Selene swinging from a chandelier while singing Lady Gaga or something. *shudders* scary thought, but now that I feel somewhat human again, let's continue, shall we?

Lena led Selene down a long dimly lit corridor into what appeared to be an underground pool. The only illumination came from torches set into the walls and the shadows they cast reminded Selene of the burial chambers in Ordaghaz where the elders who weren't ruling slept. A shiver raced down her spine as she remembered the ritual she had performed to awaken Viktor in an attempt to overthrow Kraven's tyrannical bid for power. She shook off the memory as she looked at the white haired warrior standing beside her.

"Lena, what is this place?" She asked, her curiousity piqued as she watched a woman being wrapped in what appeared to be gauze bandages sink slowly beneath the water and disappear from sight.

"This is the Sacred World," Lena replied solemnly, kissing the bandaged woman's forehead before she disappeared from view.

"Is she dead?"

Lena shook her head.

"No, she is becoming, seeing her destiny, you may as well, if you so desire."

"What will it show me?"

Lena smiled.

"I cannot answer that, only you know what your heart wants most."

Selene lay on a wooden slab submerged in the water with her eyes closed as Lena wrapped her in bandages chanting softly. She had swallowed a small vial of poison which Lena explained would allow her to see into the world beyond this one to find the answers she sought so desperately.

Go in peace."

Selene felt Lena gently kiss her forehead and then she was suddenly in another world.

"Contractions are about a minute apart now, Dr. Laine, Vitals are strong, oxygen levels holding steady."

Selene saw herself laying on a gurney, hooked up to various monitors, a blood pressure cuff strapped around one arm and an oxygen mask covering her face. Suddenly, the sheet covering her naked body was pulled away and she saw her belly swollen with pregnancy. A masked doctor holding a scalpel approached the gurney and as he made an incision across her stomach, Selene realized what she was witnessing.

'Eve's birth,' She thought in awe as she watched it unfold before her.

Jacob Lane lifted the infant, squalling and covered in blood from her stomach and after cutting and clamping the umbilical cord, handed her to a dark haired woman.

"Here Lida, Subject Two is your responsibility now, take good care of it."

He turned to the nurse standing beside him.

"Stitch the incision and then return Subject One to cryofreeze immediately before the drugs wear off, we can't have her waking up."

"Yes Sir," the nurse moved quickly to the gurney and began stitching the C-section closed. Selene turned as the wonan who had her baby exited the room.

"No!" She screamed, chasing after the woman. "Bring her back to me, she's mine. I won't let you hurt her, give me back my baby." but no matter how fast she ran or how loudly she screamed, the woman never turned and Selene could never catch up. She sank to her knees sobbing as her daughter was locked away forever beyond her reach.

Selene's eyes moved rapidly behind her closed lids as her vision sped up, the images moving so fast they blurred like a VCR on fast forward.

"Twinkle twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky..."

Eve, now about three or four years old, skipped happily down the hallway holding Lida's hand, singing. She was dressed in a long white nightgown, socks and small white sneakers with pink polka dot laces. The only color the little girl wore were the pink bows on the ends of her braids which matched the polka dots on her shoelaces, the rest of her outfit was white, standard hospital attire. Lida shook her head as she recalled the tantrum that had occured earlier.

"NO!" The little girl screamed, her face turning red and scrunching up in preparation for a hissy fit.

"Don't wanna wear those ugly clothes, I wanna wear a pretty dress like Snow White."

She picked up the copy of Snow White and the seven dwarves that was laying on her bed and held it out to Lida showing her the picture.

Lida sighed, as she knelt at the child's level, looking into her eyes as she gently pried the storybook from her clenched fingers. She spoke in as soothing a voice as possible as she glanced anxiously at the cameras mounted in each corner of the room. Dr. Laine would punish the child if he caught her acting out, so Lida needed to calm her down as quickly as possible.

"Subject Two, big girls don't yell and throw temper tantrums, only babies do that. If Dr. Laine hears you yelling and crying, he'll make you go to the naughty room, you don't want to go there, do you?"

Her eys widened in fear and she shook her head vigorously, as her eyes filled with tears.

"No, Lida, I'll be a good girl, I promise, please don't let them put me in the naughty room, it's dark and scary and cold."

The child allowed Lida to dress her and braid her hair, then she walked slowly toward the exam room at the end of the hall. She whimpered in fear as she was led to the big dentist type chair in the center of the room and helped into it. She shivered as her nightgown was lifted and heart monitor electrodes were attached to her chest, a blood pressure cuff was strapped to her arm and more electrodes were attached to her head to monitor brain activity. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she watched Lida leave the room. Lida only left on the days they hurt her. Some days, they fed her nutrients and cloned blood through a needle in her arm, on those days Lida stayed in the room with her and read stories or played games, but today she left the room which meant something painful was going to happen to her, but she knew she couldn't cry or she'd be locked in the naughty room again. Last time, she'd screamed when they cut her with knives to see how fast she healed and Dr. Laine had put her in a jacket with straps on it so she couldn't move no matter how hard she tried to get it off. They threw her in a cold dark room with a hard floor and padded walls and locked the door and no matter how loud she screamed or how much she cried and begged to be let out, no one came. She woke up the next morning in her bed with no memory of how she got there.

Selene trapped in stasis screamed silently as she felt the electricity coursing through her daughter's body as the little girl screamed in agony.

Selene moaned beneath the water as her vision sped up again.

'What am I to see now?' she wondered subconsciously as her mind's eye zeroed in again.

Eve now appearing about ten years old crept along the hallway, staying low to the ground to avoid being detected by the cameras mounted all along the ceiling. She had waited until Lena left the room, catching the door before it closed completely and snuck down the hall into the room marked Subject 1. She had stolen the key card from her caretaker's coat pocket while the older woman was in the bathroom and snuck into her mother's room the moment the opportunity presented itself. She knew all hell would break loose once they discovered her missing and she'd be punished and thrown into the padded room or beaten but she didn't care, she wanted to see her mother, to try and understand the strange dreams she'd had for as long as she could remember.

She crept slowly toward the cryofreeze chamber and wiped away the frost obscuring the glass.

"Mommy, I wish I knew what you are trying to tell me, I see things through you all the time, they told me you were dead, but I knew you were alive, Mommy, that's why I kept dreaming about you, isn't it? You wanted me to find you. I have to go now before they discover I'm gone from my room, but I'll get you out of here as soon as possible, I promise. I love you, Mommy." blowing a kiss in the direction of the cryochamber, she disappeared.

Selene's vision changed again, only this time, it wasn't Eve she saw, but Michael.

He was strapped to a table and his face and body were so battered and bloody if she hadn't known in her heart it was him, she wouldn't have recognized the man she'd loved all these years, he was the one who'd changed her, the reason she still fought even when she wanted to quit and she knew exactly where he was.

Lena unwrapped the bandages and helped Selene out of the water. She got dressed quickly and grabbed her guns and ammo. She hadn't spoken since returning from the Sacred world, but Lena could tell whatever she'd seen there had upset her greatly.

"Selene, are you alright? You seem agitated, is there something I can help you with?"

"I have to go somewhere but I'll be back soon, please don't tell David I left, he'd only follow me again and this is something I must do on my own. Can you please have some things brought to my room before I return, blood bags, medical supplies, men's clothing. I'll be back in a few hours. Thank you, Lena."

Before the stunned coven leader could respond, Selene was gone.

The warehouse Marius had chosen for his hideout wasn't far from the castle, maybe twenty miles and with Selene's enchanced senses and the ability to walk in sunlight, she had reached it in under an hour. She knew the layout of the building thanks to the visions she'd had, so she just had to get to Michael. Keeping a silver grenade in one hand and her pistol in the other, she ran as stealthily as possible to the room she had seen Michael trapped in. She was in the middle of undoing the straps binding him to the table when someone spoke behind her.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Selene turned to find a man she could only assume was Marius standing behind her.

"I assume your little flunkie delivered the message I sent?"

"If you are referring to that idiot you shot in the leg, then yes and he was very promptly dealt with. Now, if you would be so kind as to tell me where exactly you are going with my prisoner, I'm not quite finished with him yet."

"Oh, I beg to differ, you are very much finished with him."

Cradling Michael's battered body against her chest, she pulled the pin, tossed the grenade and bolted.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer and AN: I don't own them, etc, etc. Also, what would you guys think about me turning this story into a series?

Rant: Okay this is a major pet peeve of mine about blood wars, I know that Michael was only in one teeny tiny little flashback scene in the entire movie, but seriously, it sucked bad enough they killed him off (sorry spoilers) but would it have killed them to photoshop Scott Speedman's face onto the stunt double's body like they did in Awakening if Speedman didn't want to do it for whatever reason? I read somewhere that he didn't come back because he and Kate Beckinsale didn't get along, but I'm not sure if that's true or just a rumor. I know Kate Beckinsale is in her early 40's, but seriously the guy they had playing Michael looked young enough to be her son, yet we were supposed to believe she has a preteen/teenage daughter with a guy that looks like he's 25 at most. Yeah okay. He just looked too young to me. lol sorry, but Scott Speedman will always be Michael to me. Am I a super nitpicky weirdo, or was anyone else bothered by this? Okay,rant over, on with the story now.

Lena knocked gently on Selene's door and entered when bidden to do so.

"Selene someone named Olivia is here to see you, she says David sent for her."

"She's the doctor from David's old coven, she helped us when Eve was bitten by a lycan, please let her in."

Selene had just given Michael a sponge bath and dressed him in a pair of pajama pants David had loaned her when the doctor walked in. She walked quickly to the bed pulling the blankets back as she set her medical bag on the table and began pulling supplies out of it.

"Hello, Selene, nice to see you again."

Selene smiled.

"Hello, Olivia, thank you for coming, I assume David explained Michael's situation to you."

She nodded as she set up a blood transfusion IV.

"He did, your Michael took quite the beating, I see. When he regains consciousness, he can drink blood bags to heal, but in the meantime, this IV will help with that. His lungs and heart both sound fine, he just needs to rest and regain his strength, it may take a few days, but he'll be fine."

Olivia was preparing to leave when they heard a groan from the bed. Selene hurried over as Michael slowly opened his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and pained.

"Where am I? What happened?"

Selene hurried over.

"It's alright love, you're safe now."

Olivia checked him over as she unhooked the IV.

"How do you feel?"

He groaned.

"I feel like I got hit by a truck, I hurt in places I didn't even know could hurt."

Olivia smiled as she packed her medical bag.

"A hot shower and sleep should remedy that. You'll be fine with a few days rest."

While Michael was in the bathroom, Selene busied herself with putting clean linens on the bed, As she smoothed down the comforter over the mattress, her knees suddenly buckled and she sat on the bed, sobbing hysterically.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Michael emerged, dressed in clean pajama bottoms and a t-shirt rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

"Oh my God, I never knew a shower could feel so good, now I just wanna crawl into bed and sleep for about a week."

He stopped and hurried to the bed, sitting beside Selene, he pulled her into his arms.

"Hey babe, ssh, don't cry, Selene, what's wrong? Do you feel sick? Does something hurt? Talk to me, beautiful."

She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up.

"I have a lot to tell you, but it can wait til morning, let's go to sleep my love, I want nothing more right now than to be in your arms."

She quickly shed her leather suit, dropping a nightgown over her head and crawled into bed sighing in contentment as she felt Michael's arms wrap around her and her head rested on his chest.

"Love you," he mumbled, almost asleep.

She kissed his forehead as she felt all the tension that had never seemed to leave her body since she'd woken up in that cryochamber in Antigen suddenly disappear.

"I love you so much, Michael."

For the first time in what seemed an eternity, Selene didn't have nightmares.

David lay in the dark, his bedroom door closed, playing his PS4. The castle was silent, everyone in their rooms for the night. It had been decided that since his father's coven had been destroyed in a lycan raid and his father had been killed by Semira, that Olivia would remain and act as the Nothern Coven's doctor. David looked up, pausing his game as he heard footsteps running down the stairs.

"What the... what could possibly be happening at 2:30 in the morning?"

Pulling a t-shirt on over his sweat pants, he hurried downstairs and stopped, staring in shock. Marius stood in the foyer, his hand around Eve's throat.

"Little Red Riding Hood shouldn't walk alone in the woods at night, she might run into the big...bad...wolf."

Selene walked slowly toward him, both guns aimed at his chest.

"Get your filthy hands off my daughter, you bastard."

Marius sneered.

"Now, now Selene, you really shouldn't use such language, especially not in front of your daughter, people might start to think you're a bad mother."

He stumbled backward in shock as Selene advanced on him, rapidly firing. She dropped one gun as it emptied and automatically grabbed another from the wall as she passed, her fire never ceasing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eve run to David as he took her upstairs. Selene's eyes glowed blue as she pinned him against the bars of the metal cage that housed the weapons. When she spoke, her voice was a deadly whisper.

"This is the last time you ever hurt my family, first you tortured Michael doing God knows what to him and then you have the audacity to threaten my daughter. Pity the last decision you ever made had to be such a foolish one."

He never had time to respond as she twisted his head until it seperated from his body, she held it up, spine still attached and dripping gore as his lifeless body slumped to the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

Michael paced the length of the bedroom with clenched fists. He turned to face Selene and she saw his fingernails starting to lengthen into claws and his teeth elongated into fangs. His coal black eyes attested to his anger and confusion as he fought to keep his hybrid side in check.

"Selene, what the hell is going on? The last thing I remember, we were getting on a boat to escape the purge then next thing I know, I'm waking up locked in a freezer in some lab, then some guy knocks me out and proceeds to beat the crap out of me for not telling him where you and our daughter are, what was he talking about? We don't have kids."

Selene sighed as she sat in a chair facing him.

"Michael, a lot has happened since the night we attempted to escape the purge. We were captured by an organization called Antigen, they knocked us out with some super powerful drug and put us into cryofreeze in order to use the DNA in our blood to create a new breed of lycan with enhanced speed and strength and well, they succeeded, but it wasn't our blood they used, not directly anyway."

He stopped pacing and sat on the bed, a look of utter bewilderment crossing his face.

"What do you mean, if it wasn't our blood they used, whose was it? It couldn't have been Alexander Corvinus', he's dead."

Selene moved to the bed sitting beside Michael taking his hand and running her fingers through his hair tenderly.

"Michael, the night we were captured, I was pregnant but I wasn't far enough along to know yet, our daughter Eve was born and raised in Antigen for 12 years. She rescued me a few months ago and with the help of our friends, David and Lena, we found you and rescued you."

Michael sat in silence, trying to process everything Selene had just told him. He had an almost teenage daughter and had been held captive in some government lab for twelve years having God knows what kind of experiments done to him. There was a time he wouldn't have believed any of this, it sounded like something straight out of the science fiction stories he read as a kid, but he had learned long ago that things weren't always as they seemed, not everything had a rational explanation. Before he could ask any more questions, there was a knock on the door and a guy with brown hair stuck his head in.

"Selene, Eve just woke up, she's scared and asking for you."

"Thank you, David, I'll be right there, this is Michael, Eve's father. Michael, this is David, the friend I told you about. He's one of the elders. Amelia was his mother."

Michael extended his hand and shook the younger vampire's.

"It's nice to meet you David, Selene told me what a big help you were with Eve, thank you for taking such good care of my girls."

David returned the handshake.

"It was my pleasure. Selene, I'm going to make Eve some hot chocolate, maybe it'll help her get back to sleep."

"Thanks."

She took Michael's hand and led him to a room down the hall, the overhead light was on and Eve was sitting up in bed watching The Simpsons. Selene sat on the edge of the bed, gently rubbing Eve's shoulder.

"Hey Sweetheart, can't sleep huh? What's wrong, baby?"

Eve grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. When she turned to face her mother, there were tears in her eyes.

"I saw everything through your eyes, I saw Lena putting you into the water, I saw David kill that woman, I even saw you rescue Dad, that's when I started on my way back to you, I knew once you found him everything would be okay, but then that horrible man grabbed me and..."

Selene hugged Eve, glancing over her daughter's shoulder at Michael who stood just inside the doorway, not wanting to frighten Eve even more than she alteady was.

"Come say hello to our daughter, Michael."

He stepped forward, smiling shyly.

"Hi, Eve, that's a pretty name."

She blushed, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink and Michael marveled at how beautiful she looked, like a delicate porcelain doll.

"Thank you, Momma gave it to me. It came from the Bible, she said Eve was the first woman God created and since I'm the first born hybrid, well it just kinda fit, I guess."

Michael looked around his daughter's room, the walls had been painted a light lavender and the bed, bookshelf, desk and dresser were white. Multicolored silk butterflies and framed pictures of flowers and nature scenes adorned the walls. A poster of horses running through a field hung on the wall over Eve's bed and a chandelier hung from the ceiling, the pink and purple crystals dangling from it caught the light and sparkled. The TV was mounted to the wall and Michael smiled as he saw the playstation on a shelf beneath it.

"Do you like video games?" she asked as she saw what he was looking at.

He shrugged.

"I haven't played video games since I was a teenager, maybe you can teach me and we can play together sometime, would you like that?

She nodded, smiling.

"David gave me his old PS3 since he has a PS4 now, he gave me a bunch of games too."

"I didn't give you all my games though," David replied, handing her a mug of hot chocolate. "I only gave you the ones your mom said were okay. The lego games, Sonic the hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, she let me give you Mortal Kombat, but all of my Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty games I'm selling on Ebay."

David handed Michael a second mug of hot chocolate.

"I thought you might like some too."

Michael shuddered as he set the cup down on Eve's nightstand. He all too vividly remembered puking his guts out the first time he attempted to eat human food after he'd been turned.

"Thanks man, but human food kinda makes me sick."

Selene smiled as she recalled what had happened in the bar in Budapest when they were running from Markus.

"It's alright love, we mix blood into it so we can drink it without getting sick, try it, it's very good."

Eve stuck her tongue out at David playfully.

"I never wanted to play Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto anyway, it was boring enough watching you play them everytime you stayed with me when Mom was gone patrolling. Grand Theft Auto was gross, there were strip clubs and sex and all kinds of nasty stuff in that game."

Michael almost snorted hot chocolate through his nose from trying not to laugh as Selene smacked David in the head, glaring.

"Ow," he yelped, putting his hands up defensively. "What the heck was that for?"

"You played games like that in front of a twelve year old? What are you crazy? That's disgusting, David. You should be ashamed."

"No, I never played GTA in front of her, I'm not an idiot, Selene. Call of Duty, yes once or twice, but I always waited until she was asleep before I played anything else, I swear."

Selene rolled her eyes at him, still in mama bear mode.

"Yeah, yeah whatever, it's high time we were all in bed, especially you, missy. It's almost sunrise and we all need to get some sleep."

Eve smiled, snuggling down into her bed.

"Goodnight Mom, goodnight Dad, goodnight David."

"Goodnight love, we'll see you in the morning."

They kissed her goodnight and went to their room. Selene closed the door and locked it.

"Do you really think David played those games in front of Eve?" Michael asked his voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling off over his head.

Selene shook her head suddenly distracted by Michael's bare abs, a sight she hadn't seen in far far too long.

"I doubt it, he wouldn't purposely do anything inappropriate around her because he cares about her, plus he knows I'd kick his ass. Eve's room in our apartment was right next to the living room, she was probably watching him play it through a crack in her door when he thought she was asleep. I caught her spying on him several times, I think she has a crush on him."

Michael raised an eyebrow scowling.

"Uh she better not, that ain't happening. She should be playing with barbies or nail polish or something, reading those magazines with the boy bands on the cover, not chasing after some guy so much older than her, he has to be at least twenty-five. She's not dating until she's at least sixteen and even then it better be someone her own age."

Selene smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Well, well, look who's acting like an overprotective daddy already, that Mr. Corvin, is extremely sexy."

Michael's eyes widened in surprise and he bit back a moan as he felt the string of his pajama pants loosen and realized what exactly Selene was doing.

His last coherent thought was 'God, I hope these walls are soundproof.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer and AN: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

I apologize if the spacing in this chapter is screwed up, my laptop has been down so I've been writing this story using my iPad and my word processing app on the iPad is different than the one on my laptop, but now I have my laptop back so I don't have to write on the iPad anymore. Please overlook any issues with the spacing, I've gotten so used to writing on an iPad, that I'm having to readjust to the laptop.

Eve squinted at the sunlight streaming through her curtains as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was almost noon. She never slept this late, but she, her parents and David had stayed up til almost four in the morning talking. She still couldn't believe her dad was finally home, it all seemed like a dream. She stood up, pulling her nightgown over her head and tossed it into the clothes hamper next to her closet. Taking her fuzzy peach robe from the hook on the back of her door, she put it on and went into the bathroom to take a shower. It was weird having her own bathroom after living in a tiny apartment for months and her room here made her old room seem like a closet, speaking of closets, the one she had here was huge, the whole castle was and she found it a little overwhelming. She had both of her parents now though, plus David, and Lena seemed nice so she knew she'd be okay.

After her shower, she put on a pair of purple sweatpants, a long sleeved black shirt with a silver heart on the front and a pair of black and purple sneakers and after putting her hair up in a ponytail, headed downstairs to find her parents.

"Mom, Dad, anybody here?"

She looked around the empty foyer, feeling a little nervous as she didn't see her parents or David anywhere, maybe they were still asleep.

"Good morning Eve, how are you, dear?"

Eve turned in surprise upon hearing an unexpected and somewhat unfamiliar voice and smiled as Lena entered from another room.

"Good morning Lena, I'm fine, have you seen my parents or David anywhere, are they up yet?"

Lena nodded.

"David is in the training room,he works out every morning, lifting weights and practicing with his whips, I haven't heard your parents come down yet though, they may still be asleep. I was just in the library reading."

Eve smiled.

"You have a library?"

"Yes, would you like to see it? Your mother told me how much you like to read. We have an indoor swimming pool, the training room, the library, you're welcome to go anywhere, anytime you want to. This is your home now and I want you to be comfortable here. Later, we can go out to the stables and I'll show you the horses, but first, a tour of the castle, we can't have you getting lost."

Selene opened her eyes yawning and smiled as she saw Michael asleep beside her, he was laying on his back, one arm under his head. Leaning down, she began placing soft kisses all over his bare chest and abdomen, chuckling he opened one eye and looked at her.

"Mmm, morning beautiful, you're certainly a nice thing to wake up to, come here."

She laughed as he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers in a kiss that quickly turned passionate. Selene lost herself in it, closing her eyes. It was only when she felt his hand inching toward her breast that she came back to her senses, pulling away relunctantly.

"Love, as much as I'm enjoying this, we need to get up, it's already noon and Eve is probably wondering where we are, we never sleep this late."

He nodded.

"Uh, babe, please don't take this the wrong way, but what the heck happened to your hair?"

She smirked, touching it self consciously.

"I wondered when you'd mention it, it happened when I went to the Sacred world trying to find you, when I came back, I had white tips, do you not like it?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just I'm so used to seeing you with solid black hair that it took me by surprise, that's all. You could shave your head completely bald and you'd still be gorgeous. You said you went to the Sacred world to find me and that's why your hair changed, how exactly did you do that? I'm not quite sure I understand."

He listened in disbelief as she described the water ritual Lena had performed to help her find out what had happened to him after she'd freed him from the cryofreeze.

"Oh wow, that's incredible, you saw Eve's childhood too?"

He tried to hide it, but Selene thought she detected the slightest hint of jealousy and resentment in his voice that she had gotten to see a part of their daughter's life he would never know about.

She sighed.

"Yes, Michael, our daughter did not have a happy childhood to put it mildly, she was treated horribly, I'm afraid. Anyway, shortly after I rescued you from Marius' den, the vampire council called Lena and I into their chambers and appointed us elders, along with David, of course. He is an elder by birth, whereas Lena and I were appointed."

He stared at her in shock.

"You're an elder? You run this coven?"

"Yes, I'm an elder, which also makes Eve a princess technically, but it's really not that big of a deal, it's just a title, and yes, David, Lena and I run the coven together. We did away with the old ways of one elder rules while the other two are in vaults, it was too outdated and caused too much confusion, it was time to do things differently and let go of the old ways."

She smiled and kissed him on the lips before heading toward the shower.

"I'll be out in a few minutes, you should probably go check on Eve before she comes looking for us."

"Okay, love, I'll make sure she eats too."

He dressed and quickly headed downstairs just as David, Eve and Lena came in from outside laughing.

"Hey," he demanded playfully, crossing his arms. "What's so funny, huh?"

"Daddy," Eve ran across the room and into her father's arms, hugging him tightly.

He hugged her back, kissing the top of her head.

"Hey, Sweetheart, how are you?"

She smiled.

"I'm good, Lena showed me around the castle, then we went outside and saw the horses, she said she'll teach me to ride if you and Mom say it's okay."

She looked around.

"Where is Mom, anyway? Don't tell me she's still asleep, I know we stayed up late last night but it's past noon, she has to be awake by now."

Michael laughed, ruffling Eve's hair.

"She'll be down in a little while, she's taking a shower. We have something we want to talk to you about."

Eve frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, pumpkin, nothing like that, we just want to talk to you about school, that's all."

He sat on the couch, picking up a book titled "Anime Art" that was sitting beside him and flipping through it as Eve looked over his shoulder.

"Is this yours?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I found it in the library, the pictures are cool, it reminds me of Final Fantasy characters."

Michael smiled.

"I didn't know you liked anime."

She shrugged.

"I don't really know too much about it, honestly.I found some on TV once and started watching it, it seemed interesting until these giant monsters started eating people and there was a lot of blood and cursing, that's when Mom made me change the channel, she said that show was too violent. The only one she didn't seem to mind was Pokemon, but after a couple episodes, I couldn't really get into it, it seemed like a little kid's show. Spongebob is pretty good, but most of the cartoons I've seen are either really stupid and make no sense at all or they're just disgusting. I found one on Nickelodean once that was just these two boys making fart jokes, talking about boogers and puking on each other, I don't wanna watch that."

He made a face.

"I don't blame you, sweetie, I wouldn't wanna watch stuff like that either. I used to watch anime, I know a little bit about it, there are several that I think would be fine for you to watch. I think you'd like Sailor Moon and I'm sure we could find others your mom would approve of, let me talk to her, okay?"

"Talk to me about what?"

"Nothing important babe, I'll tell you later, Eve and I were just talking about what TV shows she likes, that's all."

Selene smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"Hello love, how are you?"

Eve smiled back, returning her mother's hug.

"I'm fine, I was starting to think you were never gonna get up, I have something I wanna ask you, but I'm afraid you'll be mad."

Selene sat in a chair facing Eve.

"I won't get mad, I promise, what is it?"

"When Lena was giving me a tour of the castle, I found this in the library, it's a book about anime."

Selene took the book from Eve and began looking through it.

"I'm not exactly sure what anime is, but this book has some very pretty drawings in it."

Michael spoke up.

"Anime is basically Japanese cartoons, Eve said she wants to watch it, but she didn't think you approved because she found one with some bad language and extreme violence in it and you made her turn it off."

"If you're talking about that weird cartoon where giants were eating people and chopping off body parts with blood flying everywhere, yes, I made her turn it off. She's way too young to watch something so gruesome, not to mention all the bad language that was in it, do you really want her watching stuff like that, Michael?"

"No, of course not, but we can discuss that later, let's tell her about school."

Eve looked at her parents, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"I would love to go to school, but how?"

She turned to face her mother, an angry tone creeping into her voice.

"You promised you'd never lie to me, Mom, when we first moved into the apartment after we escaped Antigen, I told you I wanted to go to school, be a normal kid for once in my life, but you said it was too dangerous, that we could get discovered and sent back to Antigen. What's different now, why is it suddenly okay for me to go to school now, but not before? Tell me that."

Michael crossed his arms, giving his daughter a stern look.

"First of all young lady, you don't talk to your mother like that, that tone has grounded written all over it, so unless you wanna start losing things like your TV and your video games, I'd cool it with the attitude."

Eve looked down, her cheeks turning bright red and tears stinging her eyes, her parents had never scolded her before.

"Sorry," She mumbled meekly, a tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away, looking up as her mother started speaking.

"You won't go to public school, you'll be homeschooled right here in the castle by the woman who was Lena's teacher when she was a child, her name is Miss Calvert and she lives here in the castle too. As a matter of fact, here they come now."

They all stood as the two women approached, the stranger bowing to Selene.

"Your Grace."

Eve wondered why this stranger was bowing before her mother, she knew from all the fairytales Lida had read to her as a young child that it was a sign of respect to bow before royalty but her mother wasn't a queen...was she?

Lena turned to her.

"Eve, I'd like you to meet Miss Calvert, she's going to be your teacher, she was mine when I was a child."

Eve studied the woman standing in front of her curiously. She was tall with shoulder length red hair pulled back in a braid. She was dressed in a long sleeved green dress and black boots . Even though she looked about thirty, vampires didn't age, so Eve knew she was actually much much older, especially if she'd been Lena's teacher, she smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Eve, would you like to see our classroom?"

She nodded, smiling excitedly.

"Oh yes, but I've never been to school before, how will you know what to teach me?"

Miss Calvert chuckled.

"I'll give you a placement test to see how much you know and we'll go from there, how old are you, Sweetie?'

"Twelve, I'll be thirteen in a couple months."

Miss Calvert nodded.

"I may start you out in sixth grade and then move you up to seventh once you're caught up, depending how you do on the test, how's that sound?"

"Good."

"Okay, let's go then."

Eve followed her teacher to a different part of the castle, Michael waited until they were out of sight then sat on the couch beside Selene.

"Eve and I had a talk while you were taking a shower this morning. She told me that she really likes cartoons but that most of the ones on TV are either made for kids much younger than her or else they're really stupid and gross and full of jokes about boogers and farting. I can't blame her for not wanting to watch crap like that, six year olds and teenage boys laugh at fart jokes. Eve is almost a teenager, we can't treat her like a little kid, as much as it sucks, we missed her childhood, she's a young lady now, we should treat her like one. I know we started to discuss the anime stuff earlier, but then Lena and the teacher showed up and we got sidetracked. I know you think it's too violent and gory and some of it is, very much so. I used to watch it quite a bit in college and I've seen some that was basically animated porn. If I ever caught her watching that, she would be grounded until her high school graduation, but it's not all like that. Sailor Moon is one I think she'd like, it has talking cats and girls in sailor dresses save the world from monsters. I never watched it but my girlfriend at the time did, we can also look online and find some others for her. They all have ratings and I think as long as she doesn't watch anything over say PG or PG-13, she'll be fine, we can watch some of it with her if you want."

Selene smiled, moving to sit on his lap.

"Okay, you're right, Eve is growing up and shouldn't be treated like she's five years old, she can watch the anime shows as long as they don't get too graphic."

He smiled.

"Thank you love, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that."

Michael leaned forward and kissed her, running his fingers through her hair. Moaning softly, Selene leaned into him deepening the kiss, her eyes drifting shut in contentment.

"Ahem."

They jumped apart, startled by the sudden noise and turned quickly to find Eve and Miss Calvert staring at them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Ahem"

Selene and Michael jumped, startled and turned to find Eve and her teacher staring at them.

"Oh my God."

Eve stood with her hands over her face, blushing.

Miss Calvert looked amused, but remained silent. Selene smoothed her hair down and tried to regain her composure as the younger woman spoke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Corvin, Eve did very well on her test, she's extremely bright, especially considering she's never been to school before, Lena explained the situation. I've decided to put her in sixth grade because she is a little bit behind where she should be for her age in a couple subjects, mainly math and history. She reads very well, above grade level, I've given her all of her books and some homework I'd like her to do tonight and bring to class tomorrow, it was nice to meet you, do you have any questions for me?"

They looked on in surprise as Eve suddenly ran upstairs, bypassing her room, she ran blindly down the hallway until she ran headfirst into David coming from the opposite direction.

"Hey, slow down, where's the fire?"

She looked up, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What fire?"

David tilted her chin up looking into her eyes, a look of concern on his face.

"Hey, what's wrong, kiddo, have you been crying?"

She shrugged.

"No, I'm fine."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

She looked down.

"They are not, you jerk."

He grinned.

"Got you to smile, didn't I?"

"No."

"Uh huh, I saw it. C'mon, tell me what's wrong."

She followed him to his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, she picked up a pillow and hugged it, speaking softly.

"I started my homeschooling today, I had gone with my teacher Miss Calvert to take this test so she'd know what grade to put me in."

He sat beside her on the bed sideways so they were facing each other.

"Okay, and...?"

"Well, when we came back from the test, we walked into the main room and saw my Mom and Dad on the couch kissing."

He raised an eyebrow.

"That's what you're crying over because you saw your parents making out?"

"Yes in front of my teacher, how am I gonna face her in school tomorrow? I'm so embarrassed, how could they do this to me?"

David scoffed, trying not to laugh but failed.

"Hey," Eve cried, indignantly. "it's not funny."

"I'm sorry, Eve, but yeah actually, it's kind of hilarious. Hey, look on the bright side, at least they were only kissing."

'Be glad you didn't have to witness what a horn dog your father is.' he thought to himself, shuddering as he recalled what had happened the night before.

 _Bang, bang, bang, bang._

 _"Oh, God, Michael."_

 _David rolled his eyes as the sounds of panting and moaning drifted through his bedroom wall, not to mention the sound of the headboard hitting the wall._

 _"Half lycan, my ass," He muttered, sarcastically, "I swear he must be part rabbit the way they're going at it."_

 _He pounded on his wall angrily._

 _"Hey, how about keeping it down in there? Some of us are trying to sleep."_

 _He sighed in relief as the noise suddenly stopped._

 _"Thank God, they're finally done, I thought they'd never stop."_

 _His relief was short lived however, as the sounds of creaking bedsprings started up again._

 _"ARRRGH, BLOODY HELL!" He yelled throwing his hands up in defeat. "Guess I'm not sleeping tonight."_

 _He pulled his bluetooth headphones over his ears and grabbing the remote to his stereo, he turned it on, once the headphones had paired with the stereo, he turned up the volume and closed his eyes, glad that the music drowned out the porn show happening in the next room._

"David, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?"

He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of Eve's voice.

"Hello, earth to David."

He grabbed the hand waving frantically in front of his face.

"Please stop that."

She frowned at the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Sorry, but you were practically on Mars, I had to get your attention somehow, what were you thinking about?"

"Trust me kid, you don't wanna know."

Eve frowned, she hated being called kid. Why was David in such a bad mood today? He raised his eyebrows as she placed the palm of her hand against his forehead.

"Eve, what are you doing?"

"Checking to see if you have a fever, Lida used to do it to me because some of the tests and drugs Dr. Laine gave me would make me sick sometimes."

He smiled at her.

"I'm not sick, vampires only run fevers if they've been very badly injured or poisoned. I'm just tired,I didn't sleep very well last night."

She looked down, her long hair hiding her face as she nervously traced the pattern on the throw pillow she held with her finger.

"David, I have something to tell you but I'm kinda scared to say it."

"What is it, princess, you know you can tell me anything."

She looked up, taking a deep breath so as not to lose her courage, she leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth.

David's eyes widened in shock and he pulled back quickly, blinking in confusion. Eve had just kissed him, but why?

"Eve, why did you do that?"

She took a deep breath and David could hear her heartbeat speed up and noticed her hands holding the pillow were shaking.

"I did it because I love you, David. I have ever since you took me to your coven so Olivia could heal me from the lycan bite, do you remember?"

He nodded, dumbfounded.

"Yes, of course I do. Sweetheart, I'm flattered that you have a crush on me, but..."

Eve shook her head.

"It's not a crush, crushes are what happens when you like an actor or a singer or Four from Divergent. I love you, David,the same way my Mom and Dad love each other."

He took her hands in his and sighed, he knew she wouldn't like what he was about to say and he hated to break her heart but he really saw no other way out of this situation.

"Eve, I love you very much, but not that way. I love you more like my little sister, and what you feel for me is called puppy love, it's not mature love like your parents have for each other. Someday when you're a little older, you'll meet some guy your own age and you'll fall in love for real and you'll forget all about me."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes and when she spoke, her voice quivered.

"Get out of my room, just go away, I hate you, David."

He frowned.

"Come on, Princess, you know you don't mean that."

She spun to face him, her eyes glowing in their hybrid form.

"Yes,I do mean it," She sobbed, her voice breaking. "I wish you had died when that lycan attacked you, I wish my mom never saved you."

David stared at her in shock, hurt and anger swirling within him like a Tsunami, his voice was low when he was finally able to speak.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Eve. I used to be really proud of you and how well you were adjusting to life outside that damn lab. I did everything I could to make you happy, I brought you books and video games and snuck you out on outings when your mom was out at night, even though if she'd have ever found out, she'd have ripped me a new one and probably never have let me stay with you ever again. I took a chance of pissing her off just because I wanted to do fun things with you and let you be a normal kid and this is how you repay me, by saying you hate me and want me dead?"

He turned and walked out of the room without another word. He leaned against the wall in the hall, closing his eyes as a tear slid slowly down his cheek, he wiped it away and walked downstairs to find Lena.

Eve plugged her iPod into the speaker dock sitting on her dresser and turned the volume up as loud as it would go, then she went to her closet and started packing, everyone would be better off without her around. She left her music blaring as she threw her bag out the window and climbed out, disappearing into the woods beyond the castle.

Lena stared at David in surprise, she couldn't believe what he'd just told her.

"What do you mean you're leaving, where exactly do you plan to go?"

"I'll go back to the Eastern Coven, rightfully it's mine anyway and I need to get things in order there, clean up the mess Semira made of my mother's legacy."

Lena sat on the sofa in front of the fire, staring into the flames pensively, her brow furrowed in worry.

"What brought this on,David? I thought you were happy here."

David looked up in time to see Michael and Selene come in from the kitchen, mugs of blood in hand.

"I'm glad you're both here, we need to talk, all of us."

He sat beside Lena on the sofa as Michael and Selene took the armchairs across from them. Michael was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that had descended over the room.

"What's wrong, David, you look upset."

"I ran into Eve upstairs, quite literally, she was upset by that little spectacle you two made of yourselves in front of her teacher. She was crying and not watching where she was going and almost plowed me over. She told me you embarrassed her and after I finally managed to convince her that seeing your parents kissing wasn't the end of the world, she made a rather unsettling confession."

Selene frowned, closing her eyes.

"Oh, please tell me it's not what I think it is."

David sighed.

"She told me she's in love with me and then kissed me."

"WHAT?!" Michael stood up and would have lunged at him, if Lena hadn't stepped in between them.

"Michael, calm down, there's no need for violence, I'm sure David handled the situation appropriately, maybe you should hear him out before you do something you might regret."

Selene put her hand on Michael's shoulder and led him back to his chair, he sat, glaring at David.

"If you touched my daughter, I will revel in making your death as painful and prolonged as possible."

David shot the hybrid a murderous look.

"Of course I didn't, she's twelve for God's sake, I'm not some sicko or a pedophile, I would never touch Eve. I told her that she wasn't in love with me, that she was too young to know what love is and that it was just a crush and some day, she'd forget about me and find someone her own age to love."

"How did she take it?" Selene asked as she took Michael's hand in hers and squeezed gently, feeling the tension slowly leave his body.

"Not well, she started crying and she told me that she hates me and she wishes you hadn't saved my life when that lycan attacked me, she said she wishes I'd died."

The Death Dealer sighed.

"I'm sorry, David, that was harsh and her father and I will have a talk with her and let her know how cruel she's being, she'll apologize to you."

He shook his head.

"That's not necessary, Selene, she'll forget about it soon enough, especially since I won't be here and she won't have to see me every day."

Michael spoke up.

"David, I'm sorry I went off on you like that, sometimes I jump to the wrong conclusions and end up looking like a complete jackass, no hard feelings,man. Please don't feel like you have to leave, we're cool, okay?"

David smiled as he shook the hybrid's hand.

"No hard feelings, we're good, I need to go back east to my Mother's coven for awhile and settle affairs there. I'll be back in a few months and maybe by then Eve's little crush on me will have fizzled out, I..."

He was cut off midsentence by frantic footsteps running down the stairs and Selene's frantic voice.

"Michael, David, come quick, she's gone, Eve's run away."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer and AN: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended. Also I feel I should add a trigger warning to this chapter because there is a scene involving a miscarriage of a baby. Without giving too much away and ruining the story, please understand that I would never make light of a situation like that or make fun of anyone in that situation, I just needed a heartbreaking scene at one point to explain a certain character's actions and what motivated him to make the choices he ultimately does. I apologize if the scene upsets anyone, I swear that was not my intention.

Sorry guys, I meant to have this chapter up sooner, but I got a new iPad and it took me awhile to get it set up because for some stupid reason, my computer wasn't recognizing it in iTunes and it took forever to figure out why, turns out my previous iPad which is like six years old required a really old version of iTunes and the new iPad wasn't compatible with it so I had to update everything. Plus, iTunes no longer syncs books unless you buy them from their bookstore so I had to add all of my ebooks to the thing manually one at a time and that took forever. LOL, I suck at using technology. Anyway, on with the story and thank you everyone for all the amazing reviews and feedback you've given me, it makes me happy to know people are enjoying this so much.

The three seated in the parlor stood up quickly at the sound of Selene's frantic voice, Michael hurried to her side as David and Lena exchanged worried looks.

"What do you mean, she's gone? Eve wouldn't run away, she has to be here somewhere, Babe, don't worry, we'll find her."

"I thought she was upstairs doing her homework or possibly crying considering what just happened, but when I went to see if she was okay, she was nowhere to be found. I checked every room upstairs, she's gone, Michael."

"Does she have a cellphone?"

Selene shook her head.

"No, I told her she couldn't get one til she was fifteen, same with the iPad she begged me for, I don't like the fact that kids Eve's age have access to all this technology nowadays, there are too many weirdos in the world, call me overprotective all you want but people can say anything in these chat rooms or whatever they're called, Eve is smart, but she's also niave. I should have bought her a basic flip phone so she could call if something happened."

David spoke up.

"I don't think you have to worry about her meeting anyone online, chat rooms don't exist anymore and I'm not sure she even knows what social media is. The few times I let her use my computer all she did was put music on her iPod, or watch cartoons on Netflix and Youtube. She didn't grow up with this stuff like most kids have, therefore she's not as obsessed with it as most teenagers seem to be. It's not the internet that made her run away, it's me, she left because she's mad at me."

Michael stepped forward and hugged David quickly.

"Don't beat yourself up, okay? None of this is your fault. We're all still adjusting to being out in the world again, a lot has changed since we were captured. Trust me, it's freaky as hell to be in 2004 one minute, then you wake up what feels like a day later and discover that almost thirteen years have passed and you're now in 2017, with no idea what the world is even like anymore because everything has changed so drastically."

Selene nodded as she grabbed her guns and extra ammo clips, strapping her holsters to her hips.

"Michael is right, but as overwhelming as everything has been for us, it must be ten times more frightening for her because up until a few months ago, all she knew was the inside of a lab, now, she's out in this big scary world she knows next to nothing about with all these adolescent hormones and new feelings she doesn't understand, no wonder she took off. She's strong but she's not a very good fighter which is why we need to find her as quickly as possible. Let's go."

David sat on the couch, rubbing his forehead trying to stave off the headache he felt building behind his eyes.

"I'll stay here with Lena in case she comes back, she left to get away from me, if you find her and she sees me with you, she'll take off in the oppisite direction instead of coming home, we'll call if she shows up here."

Selene nodded.

"Alright, you should get some rest, you look exhausted, stop stressing and blaming yourself, okay? You'll only make yourself sick."

He grinned.

"Yes, Mom."

She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up and go to bed."

As soon as they were gone, David went to his room and laid down, he fell asleep almost instantly, Selene was right, he was exhausted.

Alexia hid in the forest near the castle, she had come back to tell Marius what had happened in the Eastern Coven and to let him know Thomas and Semira were dead and that David and Selene were headed this way, but when she arrived at his hideout, one of his minions had informed her that that bitch Selene had killed him as revenge for kidnapping her hybrid lover. She ducked behind a tree as she heard footsteps approaching, when she saw who it was, she grinned in anticipation. Ah, yes, her revenge would be sweet.

Michael followed close behind Selene as she led the way through the dense foliage. He ducked to avoid having his eye taken out by a low hanging branch and was just about to speak when a scream echoed through the trees. His vision suddenly blurred and he felt as if he were looking through someone else's eyes, before he could question the strange sensation, Selene turned to him, speaking in a whisper.

"Eve is right through those trees, she's scared. I'm gonna go investigate, stay close and be ready to attack at the first opportunity, I don't know what's out there."

He nodded.

"Be careful."

She nodded as she crept through the trees, as she neared the clearing she saw Eve being held with a knife at her throat by a small red headed woman. Upon closer inspection, Selene recognized her as the woman who had taken her and David to the Eastern Coven. She made eye contact with her daughter.

"Mom, ahh!"

Eve cried out in pain as the woman holding her captive dug the knife blade into her throat.

"Mommy, help me."

"It's alright, Eve, everything's gonna be okay, Sweetheart."

Eve whimpered in fear, tears streaming down her cheeks as Selene glared at her captor.

"Let her go, why are you doing this?"

Alexia sneered.

"You killed someone I loved more than anything in the world, I just thought I'd return the favor. I want you to feel every bit of pain I've felt since you killed Marius."

Selene saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye as Michael made his way through the trees, sneaking up behind Alexia, Selene knew she had to keep the other woman distracted.

"Listen here little girl, don't talk to me about pain, I've been alive for well over six hundred years and in that time I've experienced more pain than you could even begin to imagine. You're a baby compared to me, I've seen things and done things that would make your worst nightmares seem like a Disney movie."

Before she could reply, the hybrid brought a huge rock down against the back of her skull, her eyes widened in surprise before she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Finally free, Eve ran into her mother's arms sobbing and shaking in fear. Selene hugged her daughter tight, looking past her shoulder as Michael approached, reverting back to his human appearance.

"Sssh, baby, it's okay, you're safe now."

"Are you alright, Eve?"

Michael looked his daughter over quickly, checking for injuries, she had some cuts and scratches and a bruise was forming on her right cheek, but he didn't see anything major or life threatening.

"I'm fine, Daddy. I'm sorry I ran away, I was upset and mad at David. Are you gonna punish me?"

"Oh, you better believe it, young lady, but we'll talk about that later at home. Right now, we need to get as far away from here as possible before that psycho chick wakes up."

He scooped Eve up in his arms and took off running back toward the castle with Selene on his heels.

Lena came running to meet them when they returned, hugging Eve.

"Oh thank goodness, you're alright, we've been worried sick, especially David, poor thing."

Selene looked around the foyer, not seeing him anywhere.

"Where is he?"

"He went to bed right after you left, said he had a bad headache. I checked on him a few minutes ago and he was asleep. I think he might have been having a nightmare though, he was tossing and turning and he called out for someone named Cora, any idea who that might be?"

Selene shrugged, her forehead wrinkling in thought.

"No, he's never mentioned anyone by that name, I'll be back soon, Michael and I need to have a little talk with our daughter about her behavior of late."

Lena chuckled, shaking her head as Selene headed upstairs and she went back to the library.

"Poor Eve, I don't envy her the lecture she's no doubt getting right now."

Eve sat on her bed staring at her hands in her lap as her parents stood in front of her, arms crossed and angry looks on their faces.

'No, not angry,' She thought as she glanced up at them timidly. 'more like furious.'

"Eve, look at us."

She met her Mom's eyes, biting her lip nervously.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry, I..."

"Sorry isn't good enough, Eve. Why did you run away like that? What were you thinking, you could have been killed!"

"I was mad at David and I thought you'd all be better off without a freak like me around."

Michael scowled.

"Let's get one thing straight right now, young lady, you are not a freak and I never wanna hear you say anything like that ever again and as far as David is concerned, you need to get over this crush you have on him, he's too old for you and even if he weren't, you're not dating at twelve years old."

Eve gave him a dirty look.

"I'm almost thirteen, Dad, I'm not a baby."

"I know you're almost thirteen years old, I was there when you were conceived."

"Eww, Dad, gross, I really don't wanna hear this."

Selene sat on the bed beside her daughter.

"Eve Cecelia Corvin, you don't speak to us in that tone."

"Sorry," She mumbled, as tears trailed slowly down her cheeks. "I know I screwed up bad, I'm a stupid kid."

Selene frowned at her.

"You're not stupid, Eve, you just have to learn that your actions have consequences so we're grounding you for the next two weeks."

Eve looked at her parents in confusion.

"What's grounded mean, you're not gonna punish me?"

Michael had forgotten for a minute that Eve hadn't had a normal childhood, so therefore she wouldn't know what terms like grounded meant, maybe this dad thing wasn't gonna be as easy as he thought, he tried to explain.

"Being grounded is a punishment, it means you have to stay in the castle for the next two weeks with no TV, no video games, no music and those horseback riding lessons with Lena are gonna have to wait too."

"So what am I allowed to do?"

"Nothing that's the point, you go to school, you do your homework and you can read, that's it."

Eve crossed her arms, pouting.

"That's not fair, I'm gonna be bored to death with nothing but school and the library for two whole weeks, I like to read but nothing but reading is gonna get old fast."

Selene stood up.

"Sorry, but you should've thought about that before you ran off, you're gonna apologize to David too."

Eve groaned.

"Oh no,I can't do that, I'll be humiliated, please don't make me apologize to David, I can't even look at him without blushing. Why don't you just beat me or starve me or lock me in my room."

Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What on Earth would make you say something like that? That's child abuse, we would never do anything like that, baby."

Eve shrugged.

"That's what they used to do in Antigen when I misbehaved, I thought all punishments were like that."

"Oh, love, I'm so sorry you had to go through that but Antigen is gone now, you never have to worry about those people ever again, I promise."

Selene and Michael both hugged her, then she headed for the door, but Michael stopped her.

"Uh, where are you going?"

"To apologize to David like Mom told me to."

"Not right now, David's asleep, you can apologize to him tomorrow, do you have homework?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well do it and then get ready for bed, it's late and you have school in the morning. Eve, your Mom and I love you more than anything, we don't like punishing you but sometimes we have to or you'll never learn anything from your mistakes or right from wrong, we're not doing this to be mean."

"Okay, I understand. I should do my homework now, I love you, goodnight."

As her parents closed the door behind them, Eve sat at her desk and buried her face in her hands.

"I've never been grounded before, but I can already tell my life is gonna totally suck for the next two weeks. Ugh, not fair!"

David moaned in his sleep, he knew he was dreaming, but he couldn't seem to wake up.

 _David smiled at Cora as they walked hand in hand in the garden outside his father's coven. Her bright red hair shone like fire in the moonlight and her green eyes sparkled happily. He clipped one of the white roses from the nearby bush and put it in her hair as they sat on a bench. She smiled as she took both of his hands in hers._

 _"David, I have something to tell you and I hope you'll be as happy about it as I am."_

 _He smiled._

 _"My love, I brought you out here to the garden because I have something very important to say, please let me go first before I lose my nerve."_

 _"Of course babe, what is it?"_

 _David pulled something from his pocket and dropped to one knee in front of the bench._

 _"Cora, we've known each other since we were children and I've loved you just as long, I want to devote the rest of my life to making you as happy_ _as you've made me everyday since we were eleven years old, will you marry me?"_

 _He heard a gasp and looked up to see her nodding, her eyes glistening with tears._

 _"Is that a yes?" he asked hopefully as he stood up and sat beside her on the bench._

 _"Yes," she whispered, as he slipped the ring on her finger. He grinned._

 _"I was hoping you'd say that, otherwise I would've felt pretty stupid just now."_

 _They kissed for several minutes until he remembered, he pulled back, smiling at her._

 _"What's wrong?"_

 _He chuckled._

 _"Nothing, it's your turn."_

 _"My turn?" she looked confused for a minute._

 _"Yeah, you said you had news for me too, what is it?"_

 _"I have a gift for you, close your eyes."_

 _He closed his eyes as he felt her slip something into his hand._

 _"Okay, open."_

 _He opened his eyes and looked at the small plastic stick in his hand, then up at his fiancee in confusion._

 _"A digital thermometer? Cora, what...?"_

 _She burst out laughing._

 _"No, silly, it's not a thermometer, look closer."_

 _He looked down again, it was only when he saw the plus sign in the middle of the stick that it dawned on him what he was holding. He looked at her in shock._

 _"Oh my God, you're...?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"We're...?"_

 _"Uh huh."_

 _"Woohoo!"_

 _She gasped in surprise, giggling as he suddenly picked her up and spun her around, crushing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss._

 _David groaned and thrashed around in his bed kicking the blankets onto the floor as he tried despertely to wake up from this dream._

 _'Please,' he begged subconsciously, 'please don't make me see it again, let me wake up now, Damn it, wake up!'_

 _But like so many nights before, his mind didn't co-operate and he watched helplessly as the most painful moment of his life unfolded before his eyes._

 _"AHHH, God, it hurts. David, help me, the baby can't be born yet, it's too soon."_

 _He looked down at Cora, then up at Olivia helplessly._

 _"She's only at six months, can't you do something to stop this?"_

 _Olivia shook her head._

 _"I don't know David, I'll try but I can't promise anything. You need to wait outside and let me tend to her, I'll come get you as soon as the danger has passed."_

 _David shook his head, his eyes flashing in anger._

 _"No, I won't leave her."_

 _He looked over at Cora laying on the bed, white and still as if already dead. He kissed her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes opened._

 _"Hey there beautiful, how you feeling?"_

 _She tried to smile as David helped her breathe through the pain._

 _"Good girl, contraction's over, love."_

 _She reached out and grabbed his hand and he panicked when he felt how weak her grip was. When she spoke, her voice was a barely audible whisper, he had to lean over until his ear was practically touching her lips just to be able to hear her._

 _"David, if I don't make it through this, I want you to know that you are the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me, you have been the love of my life since I was just a little girl, I love you so much and even if I'm no longer here when this is all over, just know that even if you can't see me or touch me, I'll always be with you, my love. Promise me that if something happens to me, you'll find love again someday."_

 _He tried to smile as tears ran slowly down his cheeks, Cora used her last remaining bit of strength to reach up and gently wipe them away as the sharp peaking green line on the heart moniter suddenly went flat._

 _Gasping, David sat straight up in bed, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. The sheets and pillows as well as his t-shirt were soaked with sweat and his breathing was quick and ragged. Getting out of bed, he dressed quickly and began throwing things into suitcases. The memory of Eve kissing him and telling him she loved him played over and over in a constant loop in his mind._

 _'No, he thought to himself, 'it won't happen again, I won't be here when she's grown up, therefore, I won't be able to fall in love with her, history will not repeat itself. I lost one girl who made the mistake of loving me since childhood, I'll be damned if I lose Eve the same way.'_

 _Giving the room one last quick glance to ensure he hadn't forgotten anything, he quickly left the castle. Throwing his suitcases into the backseat of his car, he hopped in and drove away in the direction of his Mother's coven in the East, he never looked back._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

Michael stood on a ladder in the foyer hanging pink and purple balloons and streamers, a silver banner with "Happy 13th Birthday" printed on it hung on the wall and a large table draped with a lavender tablecloth had been moved into the room. Selene, Lena and Olivia were busy putting pastel colored plates, cups and napkins on the table as well as plastic forks. Lena smiled as she stacked the presents on one end of the table.

"Eve is going to be so surprised when she comes in from school. I only wish David could've been here, at least he sent her a present."

Selene nodded.

"I'm glad he remembered, I just hope it doesn't upset her. Ever since he left, she's barely even mentioned his name, it worries me, considering how close they were until she ran away."

Michael sighed, two months had passed since David had gone back east to his new coven and in that time, Eve had barely talked about him at all. He called them on Skype from time to time but each time he asked to talk to Eve, she would say hi, answer his questions about school and her horseback riding lessons and then make some excuse to get off the computer, usually claiming to have a lot of homework to do.

"I know babe, it worries me too, especially considering she used to be practically glued to his hip, but let's not mention him around her today, okay? Not unless she does, I don't want to upset her, especially not today, this is her first birthday with us and probably the first birthday party she's ever had, she deserves for it to be perfect."

Lena finished arranging the presents and smiled.

"There, perfect, what did you guys get her anyway?"

Selene sighed, poking Michael playfully.

"Somebody finally convinced me to cave and buy her an iPad, so against my better judgement we got her an iPad mini and a keyboard case. That old iPod Sebastian gave her quit working and not only can she do her schoolwork on the iPad, she can listen to her music on it too."

Lena smiled.

"She'll be excited about that, I know she's wanted one for a long time, what made you change your mind, I thought you said she had to wait till fifteen for all that stuff?"

Michael climbed down from the ladder and surveyed his work, trying to make sure nothing was crooked. Once he was satisfied everything looked okay, he turned to Lena.

"We did at first, but then her iPod died and it got me thinking, I had that same iPod when I was in pre-med like fifteen years ago, the thing was ancient. I asked David when he called where I could get her a new one and he said no one really uses iPods anymore because phones and tablets can pretty much do everything including play music, not to mention when I went online looking for a new one, they were like four and five hundred dollars. I'm not paying that much for an iPod when an iPad does way more stuff for the same price. We got her a phone for emergencies right after that little runaway stunt she pulled, it's about as basic as they come, no internet and it's not a smartphone, it calls and texts, that's it."

Selene nodded.

"That's all she needs at thirteen, I haven't given in completely, Michael, I still don't want her having Facebook and Twitter and all that social media crap. Stuff like Youtube and Netflix and whatever music apps and games she wants are fine, as long as we check it every once in awhile to make sure it's appropriate."

Michael nodded.

"Fair enough, but to be honest, I had a talk with her about the whole Facebook thing, she said she went on it once but she thought it was boring and a lot of drama and wasn't interested, but just in case she ever changes her mind, I put a parental block on all social media apps, so she can't download them, or get to it through the web browser either, that way you don't have to worry about her talking to anyone she shouldn't be talking to. Plus, this way, she won't have to lug around a big heavy laptop, the iPad weighs next to nothing."

Lena laughed.

"Well, well, look who is finally getting in touch with modern day technology and modern life, you've done a lot of research on this stuff, I'm impressed."

They suddenly got quiet as they heard Eve coming from the rear of the castle, she stopped in the doorway looking around in confusion.

"Mom, Dad, where'd everybody go?"

Surprise, happy birthday!"

She smiled as everyone jumped out from behind furniture and doors and hugged her.

"Aww, thanks, but what's going on?"

Lena put a plastic tiara on Eve's head and led her to the table as Selene walked in carrying a birthday cake with white icing and pink and purple roses on it. She set it on the table as Michael lit the candles and everyone sang happy birthday to her. Before she could blow out the candles, a voice spoke from the doorway.

"Happy birthday, Princess."

Eve stared in shock for a moment, then ran across the room and into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"David, you came, I can't believe it, I thought you hated me."

"What, no way, you didn't honestly think I'd miss my favorite girl's birthday, did you?"

He glanced over her shoulder at the others in the room.

"Uh Evie, I think you better blow out those candles or else you'll have nothing but wax for icing on that cake. Sorry, I guess my timing kinda sucked, huh?"

"Oh no, I forgot."

Laughing, she blew out the candles as Selene cut the cake and passed out slices and Michael poured the punch into cups. He had gotten used to eating food again because the coven chef mixed blood into the food so they could eat it without becoming deathly ill. Most of the time, they lived off of blood bags, but on special occasions the chef would come in and make food for whatever they were celebrating.

"What did you wish for, Eve?" Lena asked as she took a sip from the cup of punch she held, David shook his head.

"Uh uh, if she tells her wish, it won't come true."

She grinned at him.

"It already did, I wished to see you on my birthday and here you are."

She blushed as everybody went "awww".

"Miss Calvert gave me a $50 iTunes gift card for my birthday, I can't use it though, I don't have an iPod anymore. I didn't tell her, I was afraid I'd hurt her feelings."

Michael smiled as he went to the stack of presents on the table and grabbed two wrapped in pink foil and handed them to her.

"Open the little one first." He winked at Selene who smiled.

Eve sat on the couch with the bigger gift in her lap as she opened the small one. Once it was unwrapped, she looked at her parents with an extremely confused look on her face.

Thanks, but why do I need a stylus? My phone isn't touchscreen, it's a flip phone, you wouldn't let me have a smartphone, remember?"

"Open the other one and then I think you'll understand."

"Here comes the screaming," Selene whIspered under her breath to Michael as Eve ripped the paper off the box in her lap. Her eyes widened in excitement as she stared at it, speechless for a minute, then she jumped up, hugging both her parents.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much, I guess I can use that iTunes card after all, but I thought I had to wait two more years for an iPad, that's what Mom said the first time I asked for one."

Selena smiled returning Eve's hug.

"You're welcome, love. I did want you to wait a couple more years but your father convinced me to go ahead and let you have one since your iPod quit working and a new one would have cost as much as the tablet if not more, those things are ridiculously expensive now, especially the older ones like you had. The iPad just seemed more practical. However, there will be rules attached to it and if you break those rules, no more iPad, got it?"

.

Eve nodded.

"Dad already told me I'm not allowed to have Facebook or any other social stuff, but it's okay, I don't want that stuff anyway. It doesn't interest me, it seemed dumb the few times I went on it on David's laptop. I like stuff like Netflix, Candy Crush, Pandora, YouTube, I don't plan to do anything bad with it, I promise. Dad also told me no inappropriate websites and no giving out personal information online."

Her mother nodded.

"We also expect you to use it for school and not just for fun stuff, that's why we got you the case with the keyboard, so you could use it in place of a laptop, schoolwork comes first,"

"Okay, Mom, thank you, you too, Dad."

Michael smiled as he hugged her.

"I told you you'd figure out what the stylus was for."

"My turn, I only wrapped part of it, the big box in the corner over there, but there's this too."

David handed her a pink helmet and a pair of knee and elbow pads.

"Okay…you got me a bike?"

He smiled.

"Close, but no, I'll give you a hint, you saw it on a YouTube video once and said you wanted one and I told you good luck convincing your mom because she'd be worried you'd fall off and bust your head open, do you remember now?"

She shook her head.

"Nope, I watch a lot of YouTube videos, so that's not the best hint, sorry."

David sighed dramatically.

"Well, fine, since you suck at guessing, I suppose you can just open it, but you better like it because I had to get your parents' permission to buy this thing for you."

Eve ripped the wrapping paper off and screamed.

"Oh my God, a pink hover board, no way, thank you, thank you, thank you, You're the best friend in the whole world."

He laughed as he returned her extremely enthusiastic hug, smiling at Michael and Selene.

"Well, I think it's safe to say she likes it."

Lena picked it up, looking it over curiously.

"That's nice but why is it called a hover board? It doesn't hover, it has wheels."

David shrugged.

"I wondered that too, I guess "hover board" was a cooler sounding name than "motorized skateboard" which is technically what it actually is."

Olivia spoke up.

"We should probably clean up this mess now."

Eve started clearing the table, carrying empty cups and plates to the large trash can in the corner of the room. Olivia laughed.

"Eve, sweetie, I didn't mean you, we can do it, it's your birthday, go visit with David."

She stopped, turning to look at them.

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping."

David nodded.

"Come on, kiddo, I'll help you set up your iPad, then we can play with your hover board, but first, we need to charge it."

Eve turned to her parents.

"Is it okay if I go with David?"

Selene nodded.

"Of course you can, Eve, but go upstairs to your room, okay? It's too cold to be outside, it's snowing out there."

David laughed.

"Snow in the Northern coven, what a shock, is it ever not snowing here?"

Lena stuck her tongue out at David teasing.

"Yes, in the summer months, it rains instead of snowing."

" Oh yeah, that's a huge improvement, wet instead of freezing cold."

He laughed running upstairs with Eve as Lena crumpled up a paper napkin and threw it at him.

"Haha missed me."

Olivia waited until they were out of hearing range before she spoke.

"There's something I need to tell you but I don't want David to hear, he'd be furious if he knew I told anyone this story, but you all deserve to know why he suddenly left with no warning like he did, despite what he told you, it wasn't only because of what happened with Eve, that was part of it, but there's actually a much sadder reason."

Selene sat holding Michael's hand, a concerned look on her face.

"What is it, Olivia, is David alright?"

She sighed, shaking her head.

"Not really, he pretends everything's fine, but I know him well enough to see beyond the brave front he puts on, I know how much he still hurts even after all these years. When David was only a couple years younger than Eve, around ten or eleven, he became friends with another little girl in the coven named Cora. David was a very lonely child because Amelia his mother wasn't around much because of her duties as an elder, because of the arrangement Viktor, Markus and she had, she was entombed in Ordagahz for basically all of David's childhood leaving him solely in the care of his father. Thomas was very strict with his son, not allowing him to have friends or play or do any of the things that go along with being a kid. Thomas also didn't approve of Cora because she was half human. Her mother was a vampire who had committed what in Thomas's eyes was a cardinal sin, she fell in love with a human and bore his child. Her parents were killed during the purge, she would've been killed as well, but David hid her in the tunnels beneath the coven until the danger passed. They were in love and planned to be married when she found out she was pregnant, they were over the moon about it but when Cora was at the beginning of her third trimester, she went into premature labor."

Selene looked shocked.

"Oh no, the baby died?"

Olivia nodded

"Yes and Cora as well, being half human, her body was unable to cope with carrying and delivering a vampire baby, she lost so much blood that her heart just gave out. I think that when Eve declared her feelings for him, he got scared that her infatuation would lead to her somehow being hurt and he didn't want that to happen so he left."

No one noticed Eve coming down the stairs and they didn't realize she'd overheard anything, they looked up in surprise as a door slammed upstairs and the sounds of sobbing could be heard. Eve lay on her bed, crying. It was her fault David had left, her telling him she loved him had brought back painful memories for him, no wonder he had wanted to get away from her so badly before and all the times he had tried to talk to her on video chat, she had just blown him off. She sat up and wiped her eyes quickly as she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in."

David stuck his head in.

"Eve, do you want to…hey, have you been crying?"

She shook her head.

" No, I'm okay."

"No, you're not, what happened, Evie?"

She sighed.

"I can't tell you, I've already hurt you, enough."

He sat on the bed beside her looking confused.

"What are you talking about, hurt me how?"

"I overheard Olivia talking about your wife and how she died, she said I reminded you of her because you fell in love with her when you were my age and you left so nothing bad would happen to me too. I shouldn't have told you I loved you that time, you're my best friend, David. I realize that us being together could never work because you're older than me, but I can't take back what I said and I don't regret telling you I love you because I do love you. So what if you can't be my boyfriend right now, you're still my best friend and I'd rather have you as just a friend for the rest of my life than have you hate me. When I told you I loved you, I meant it and I hope someday when I'm old enough you'll be able to see me as something other than that annoying bratty kid you used to babysit, but if that never happens and you fall in love with someone else someday, she better be aware that if she hurts you, I'll kill her."

David hugged Eve tightly as tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

"How can someone so young be so wise, how is it possible you're only thirteen years old?"

She hugged him back, smiling.

"You leaving made me realize how stupid I was acting, I missed you so much, please come back."

"I will baby girl, someday, I promise. When you're grown up, I'll come back and if you've moved on, I'll step aside and let you be happy, but when that day comes if you still want me, I'll come running because you Eve Corvin are extraordinary."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Disclaimer and AN: I'm going to skip ahead a bit in the next few chapters just to move the story forward a bit faster, it won't be anything major, I'm not going to make Eve go from thirteen to sixteen in the course of one chapter or anything, but she will age a bit within the next few chapters, in order for my story line to unfold the way I want it to, she has to be older, but that's all I can say without spoiling anything. Also, I don't know if anyone else ever read the novels based on the movies but I don't recall them ever giving Michael's age when he was turned, so I just said he's forty-two because that's the age Scott Speedman is and he will always be who I picture Michael being, the young guy that played him in Blood Wars for one scene doesn't count as Michael to me. I do vaguely recall the novel for Evolution mentioning Selene being nineteen or twenty when Viktor killed her family though. As always, I don't own them.

Michael awoke to a strange noise, it took awhile for his sleep fogged brain to figure out what the sound was but he quickly recognized it as vomiting, he grew concerned when he saw the bed beside him was empty.

"Selene, you okay, baby?"

He heard the toilet flush and the sound of running water before she spoke.

"I'll be out in a minute, Michael."

She left the bathroom turning out the light and sat on the bed burying her face in her hands.

He rubbed her back soothingly.

"That's the fourth morning in a row you've been sick, maybe we should throw out all those blood bags in the fridge and get a fresh supply before Eve or any of the others get sick."

"It's not the blood bags or any kind of food poisoning, I'm late."

He looked confused for a minute and then his medical training kicked in.

"Late for what…ohhh. Um, we should get a test and make sure before we get upset, let's go talk to Olivia."

She stood up pacing around the room.

"How could this happen, Michael, we were careful, did the condoms break or something? We're not ready for another child yet, we've just gotten used to Eve, she's finally settled down and put the abuse she endured in Antigen behind her, she doesn't have nightmares like she used to. What if she thinks we don't love her anymore or that we'll love the new baby more?"

Michael reached out putting his hands on Selene's shoulders to stop her frantic pacing.

"First of all, Eve is thirteen, not five, sibling rivalry usually only happens in young kids, not teenagers, if you are pregnant which we don't even know for sure yet, by the time the baby arrives, Eve will be almost fourteen, I don't think we have to worry about her being jealous, she knows how much we love her."

She stopped pacing and looked at him, he was shocked to see tears in her eyes, he couldn't remember ever having seen Selene cry.

"What if the test comes back positive? I'm not sure I can raise a baby, I took care of my nieces, but that was in the 1400's, more than six hundred years ago, we live in a completely different world now, I thought Eve was difficult at first and she was twelve, how am I going to handle an infant being dependent on me for everything?"

Michael hugged her tight, rubbing her back.

"Hey now, you're acting like you have to do it alone, you don't. This baby will have a father and a big sister to help with things, plus you know Lena will probably kidnap him or her the second they're born, she loves kids, she adores Eve, I'm gonna go find Olivia, I'll be right back, okay? Calm down and stop crying, I love you."

She smiled, wiping her eyes.

"I love you too, my handsome hybrid."

While he was gone, Selene got dressed frowning as she zipped her leather suit. Soon, she may not fit into it anymore and the thought bothered her more than she wanted to admit, even to herself. It was the only thing she'd worn since becoming a death dealer so long ago and it almost felt like a part of her, she couldn't imagine wearing anything else. She was brushing her hair when Michael returned with Olivia, she set the hairbrush on the dresser and turned to face the doctor.

"Good morning, Olivia, how are you this morning?"

She smiled as she placed her medical bag on the bed and pulled a stethoscope and a blood pressure gauge out of it.

"I'm fine, Selene though Michael tells me you're not feeling very well, what seems to be the trouble?"

Selene bit her lip nervously.

"I think….well, I've been throwing up every morning for about the past week and my period is overdue by several days."

"I see, have you taken a pregnancy test?" Selene winced slightly as the blood pressure cuff tightened around her arm.

"Not yet, I was hoping you could help with that." She jumped at the slight hissing sound the blood pressure cuff made as it deflated and the rip of the velcro as Olivia removed it from her arm, placing it back in her bag.

"Of course, but don't be so jumpy dear, everything will be fine, I promise."

Michael held her hand as Olivia drew blood and then handed her a pregnancy test. He looked concerned as she headed toward the bathroom.

"Do you know how to take that, do you want me to wait with you?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation,

"I'll be fine, Michael, I think I can manage to pee on the stick perfectly fine, it's not exactly nuclear physics, you know, now please stop fussing, you're driving me crazy."

He sat on the bed staring at the closed bathroom door until Selene came out and sat beside him taking his hand.

"Now we wait three minutes, I set the timer on my phone so we'll know when to check the test."

She turned to face him taking his hands in hers and smiled softly.

"My love, please don't think I don't want another baby with you, nothing would make me happier than to give Eve a sibling and have a chance to experience all the things we were robbed of with her, it's just…I can't help being nervous about it too."

He nodded.

"I know, I am too, I was an only child, never had brothers or sisters, I used to babysit my younger cousins occasionally, but that was when I was like fifteen. I'm forty-two now or I would be if I still aged at a normal human rate. Speaking of which, when will Eve stop aging, do we know?"

Selene nodded.

"According to the histories recorded in the Death Dealer journals, pure bloods like Eve and David stop aging in their mid twenties to early thirties, which is why David will still look like he's twenty-five even when he's over six hundred years old like me. He may age a tiny bit more, he won't ever look older than thirty though, neither will Eve."

Before Michael could say anything, they heard the timer on Selene's cellphone go off, she quickly shut it off, squeezing his hand nervously.

"Well, are you ready to find out if we're going to be parents again?"

He grinned, trying to reassure her.

"Let's do it and remember, if the test is positive, we have plenty of help here, so please don't freak out on me again, okay? I hate seeing you cry, it's heartbreaking and I can't handle it. Babies are happy occasions, remember?"

She smiled and kissed him.

"I love you so much, Michael Corvin, as scared as I am, I would love nothing more than to give you another child, I'll be right back."

She went into the bathroom and came back a minute later, smiling.

Michael looked hopeful.

"Please tell me that smile means yes."

She nodded.

"Yes, you're going to be a daddy again, love."

She smiled as a huge grin spread across his face.

"Oh my God, babe, that's incredible."

Selene gasped in surprise and laughed as Michael picked her up, spinning her around.

"Michael!"

He set her back on her feet quickly, a worried look suddenly appearing on his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She reached up stroking his face lovingly.

"No, of course you didn't, don't worry. I just feel a bit nauseous still, that's all."

"I'll make you some dry toast and tea, it'll settle your stomach."

He started toward the door to go downstairs but she grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Michael, didn't I ask you not to fuss over me? I'll be fine, go take a shower, you kinda look like a caveman right now, you're in wrinkled pajamas, your hair is sticking straight up and you have some serious five o'clock shadow on your face. If you go downstairs like that you're liable to scare the crap out of Eve and Lena."

He laughed going into the bathroom.

"Alright I'll clean up and make myself look presentable, if you promise you'll put something in your stomach and don't say anything to them about the baby until I get downstairs please."

She shook her head.

"I'll eat some toast or crackers and don't worry, I won't say a word until you're there, but seriously love, you have to relax and stop worrying because if I have to deal with nine months of this, I might snap and shoot you."

He laughed.

"I'll behave, I promise."

Selene went downstairs and after making some toast and ginger tea, walked into the main room to find Eve dressed in her riding clothes preparing to go to the stables with Lena.

"Good morning, Mom, where's Dad?"

Eve hugged her mother tightly, smiling.

Selene returned the hug.

"He's in the shower, he'll be down in a few minutes, can you two postpone your lesson for a few minutes, your dad and I have some news for you."

Lena raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest and smirked at the other elder.

"You are suspiciously happy this morning, much more than usual and I can smell the ginger in your tea, upset stomach, perhaps?"

Eve pulled back giving her mother a worried look.

"Mom, you're eating toast, you hate toast, especially dry toast with no jelly or jam on it, you always said it was like eating cardboard, are you sick?"

"No darling, of course not, I promise just as soon as your dad comes down, I'll explain, I just promised I wouldn't say anything until he gets here."

"I'm here, I'm here, don't say anything yet."

Eve narrowed her eyes looking back and forth between her parents.

"Don't say anything about what? C'mon you guys, just tell us already, what's the big secret? I'm dying here."

Michael looked at Selene who nodded, then back to his daughter.

"Well, remember a few weeks ago, when you told me you wanted a puppy, how would you feel about a baby brother or sister instead?"

Eve's mouth dropped open as she stared at her parents in shock.

"Shut up, are you serious right now? If this is a prank, I will never speak to you again, I will put myself up for adoption or move to the Eastern coven with David, are you really having a baby, Mom?"

"Yes love, I really am."

They all jumped, startled as Eve suddenly shrieked, jumping up and down in excitement, clapping her hands.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing, I…"

They looked surprised as Eve's face suddenly crumpled and tears ran down her cheeks. Selene stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her daughter, stroking her hair and murmuring soothing words in her ear.

"Shh, darling, please don't cry, Daddy and I will still love you just as much as before, I promise, that will never change."

Eve pulled back, wiping her eyes and smiled.

"Mom, I'm not crying because I'm upset, I'm crying because I'm happy."

"You are?"

She nodded.

"Of course I am, all my life growing up, all I wanted was a family and now not only do I have better parents than I ever could have dreamed of, I get a baby brother or sister, too, that's awesome."

Michael laughed.

"Does that mean you don't still hate us for grounding you? You gave us the silent treatment for a week straight, told us you'd never speak to us again, remember?"

She giggled, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Dad, stop teasing me, that was like three months ago, pretty sure I'm over it by now. Besides, I did kinda deserve it, running away was really stupid, no matter how mad I was at David. Besides, being grounded sucked, I've never been so bored in my life, that two weeks felt more like a month, by the time it was over I was so sick of reading books, I seriously considered burning down the library, but I thought Lena might kill me, it's like her favorite room in the entire castle."

Lena laughed, hugging her.

"Sweetie, I wouldn't have killed you, but I can't promise I wouldn't have cut all your hair off while you were asleep or put your hand in a bowl of warm water or something."

Eve looked confused.

"What does that do?"

Her parents both chuckled

"It makes you pee the bed."

Eve made a face.

"Eww, gross, I haven't done that since I was like three. You wouldn't really do that to me, would you, Lena?"

She laughed, shaking her head.

"Of course not sweetie, I was just kidding, why don't we skip riding for today, you and your parents should spend some time together, celebrate your news."

Eve nodded.

"Okay, I don't really feel like riding today anyway, I don't feel good. I think I'm gonna put on some comfy clothes and watch TV in bed, maybe take a nap, is that okay?"

Selene nodded, feeling Eve's forehead.

"Of course, love, you don't have a fever, though, why don't you go change and get in bed and I'll bring you a drink, okay? I ordered something from Amazon for you that arrived today, I'll bring it when I come up."

"Okay, thanks Mom."

Selene went into the kitchen and poured a glass of tea for Eve, going upstairs.

"Sweetie, where are you?"

She heard crying coming from the bathroom, Eve was sitting on the floor leaning against the bathtub, still in her riding clothes, her head was resting on her drawn up knees and her long hair hid her face.

"Baby girl, what's the matter, do you feel bad, you didn't throw up, did you?"

Eve shook her head, looking up at her mother with tears running down her cheeks.

"No, but my stomach was hurting really bad and when I went to the bathroom, there was blood in my underwear."

Selene smiled, helping Eve to her feet.

"Don't be scared love, I promise you're not sick, you just started your period, that's all. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, it happens to every woman sooner or later, it just means you're growing up. I'll be right back, I'm going to get you some clean clothes."

Selene walked to the dresser and came back with a pair of dark blue fuzzy pajama pants with yellow stars on them and a long sleeved pink t-shirt. After explaining to Eve what she needed to do, Selene closed the bathroom door and sat on the bed, waiting. A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Eve came out looking much calmer. She sat on the bed with Selene and took a drink from the glass of tea on the nightstand.

"Thanks, Mom, I'm sorry I freaked out and started bawling like a big baby."

"It's okay, it's perfectly normal to be scared the first time. Oh here, I almost forgot, I have something for you, two things actually, one's from me and one's from Lena. I remember you said you wanted another iPad case so you didn't have to use the keyboard all the time, I know it's in the way when you're not typing, so I got you a pink and green Otterbox case, it's the same kind I have on my phone, I hope you like it."

Eve smiled as she grabbed her iPad off the bedside table taking off the keyboard case and putting on the Otterbox, she held it up.

"How does it look?"

"Very pretty, I actually like it better than the keyboard case."

Eve smiled.

"Me too, the keyboard was hard to use sometimes, the Bluetooth never worked right, it kept disconnecting."

Selene handed her a small purple iPod nano.

"Lena felt bad that she never got you a birthday present and she figured you probably wouldn't want to carry your iPad everywhere just to listen to music, so she bought you another iPod since your old one broke. This one is smaller and is only sixteen gigabytes instead of thirty like your other one, you can use my laptop to put music on it if you want to."

Eve hugged Selene tightly.

"Thanks Mom, I'll tell Lena thank you as soon as she gets back from whatever errands she's doing today, as for the iPod storage, sixteen gigabytes is more than enough, it'll hold around five thousand songs, it would take me ages to download that many. My old one held seven thousand I think, though I only had about five hundred on it, it wasn't anywhere near full, that would probably take years. At least this one will fit in my pocket, my other one was too fat."

"I'm glad you like it, baby, here." Selene went into the bathroom and came back with two Advil.

" Here take these, it'll help you feel better."

Eve took the pills and swallowed them as she climbed under her covers and smiled as her mother tucked her in and handed her the TV remote.

"I'd better go downstairs before your dad comes looking for me, do you need anything else, love?"

"No, Mama, I'm okay now, thank you. I'm just gonna watch TV and maybe take a nap."

"Okay love, feel better and call us if you need anything okay?"

"I will, I promise."

Michael stood up from the couch as Selene came downstairs, a worried look on his face.

"Everything okay, is Eve feeling okay? You were upstairs with her for an hour, should I get Olivia to check on her? I would do it myself but it's been so long since I've done anything medical, I don't really even consider myself a doctor anymore."

Selene smiled, kissing him.

"My love you worry entirely too much, Eve is fine, she just had some cramps, that's all. No big deal, she's in her room resting and watching TV. Now, Lena is going to be gone all afternoon, Eve is occupied, what do you say you and I go upstairs, hmm?"

She gasped in surprise and laughed as he suddenly scooped her up, racing up the stairs toward their bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: and AN: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended. I know it probably seems weird that Eve has an iPod because I feel like no one really uses them anymore, especially since stuff like Pandora and Spotify are so popular but in the beginning of the story, I wanted her to be exposed to music but I felt like Selene wouldn't want her having a tablet or phone yet, so the iPod seemed like the best way to do that and as for her having one in the later chapters, I've learned from experience that streaming music drains a phone or tablet battery super fast plus if you're not near wifi, it doesn't work and I just kinda pictured her liking the older technology that she missed out on, so am I completely insane for giving a teenager an iPod in current times? I just imagined you all reading this going "Why the hell does Eve have an iPod? Kids don't use those anymore." Lol am I completely insane for giving her one?

Eve rode her hover board down the upstairs hallway, if they lived in a normal house, she wouldn't have been allowed to use it indoors, but since the castle was huge and the hallways were wide enough that she wasn't likely to crash into anything, her parents and Aunt Lena had said it was okay. Lena had asked Selene and Michael if it would be alright for Eve and the baby to call her Aunt Lena since they had asked her to be the baby's godmother and she considered Selene and Michael to be her sister and brother in law now, as far as Lena was concerned, they were family. Eve stopped as she heard laughter coming from the throne room, moving closer to the door, she peeked through and gasped in surprise. A man was seated on Lena's throne and she was sitting across his lap with her head tilted back as he kissed her neck.

"Oh, wow."

Eve slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized she'd spoken out loud, she ducked out of sight as Lena and her male companion looked up.

"Eve, is that you, sweetheart?"

She turned to the guy.

"Stefan, I think my niece saw us, I should go talk to her before she lets something slip, no one can know about us, at least not yet."

He nodded, kissing her.

"Alright my sweet Lena, I shall see you later then."

Eve set her hover board on the floor beside her closet, plugging it into the charger and walked over to her vanity table, sitting down, she picked up her hairbrush and began pulling it through her long hair, wincing as she hit a knot.

"Ow!"

"Here, let me help, come sit on the bed."

Eve looked up in surprise as Lena entered her room.

"Hi, Aunt Lena, what's up? Your hair looks so pretty braided like that, makes you look like Elsa from Frozen."

Lena laughed.

"Thank you, Eve, it's certainly cold enough here, isn't it? Maybe I should wear a blue dress and walk through the castle singing "let it go?"

Lena sat behind Eve on the bed pulling the brush gently through her hair.

"Let me know if I pull too hard, you've got a really bad knot back here."

"I will, thank you for the new iPod by the way, I would've said thank you sooner but you're barely ever here lately, where do you go all the time?"

Lena hesitated, reluctant to say anything, she changed the subject, avoiding Eve's questions.

"You're welcome, I knew you wanted a new one, did your mom give you the Bluetooth headphones I got you too?"

"Yes, but my dad said they cost around four hundred dollars, you shouldn't have spent that much on me."

Lena looked confused.

"Bluetooth headphones don't cost four hundred dollars, more like twenty-five for the kind I got you and the iPod was one that my father gave me last year for Christmas, but I had no use for it because all of my music is on my phone. It's brand new, I never even took it out of the package. I shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it, I stumbled across it when I was cleaning my room the other day and thought you'd like to have it. Those kind are only about a hundred dollars or so, the iPod Classics like the one you had before are the ones that are four hundred."

Eve nodded.

"Aunt Lena, who was that man you were with in the throne room? I didn't mean to spy, I swear, I was just going past and heard you talking, are you mad at me?"

She shook her head.

"Of course not Eve, but you can't tell anyone you saw us, okay, promise?"

Eve looked confused.

"Sure, but why not?"

Lena sighed.

"Because if anyone found out, it could get back to my father and he would disown me and throw me out of the coven and I have nowhere else to go, this is the only home I've ever known. I've loved Stefan since I was a teenager, maybe a year or two older than you, that's why I never belittled your feelings for David because I knew how you felt."

Eve grinned.

"Stefan, huh, his last name wouldn't happen to be Salvatore by any chance, would it? Does he have a brother named David?"

Lena burst out laughing.

"Somebody's been watching Vampire Diaries again I see, but I thought his brother's name was Damon."

Eve looked confused.

"It is, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, isn't that what I said?"

"Nope, you said David, you still have feelings for him, I can tell."

Eve nodded, sighing as Lena began French braiding her hair.

" Yeah I do, not that it matters, he's always gonna be twelve years older than me, just like I'll be more or less fourteen years older than my baby brother or sister since my birthday is only two months after he or she is due. As much as it sucks, David and I will never be together, ever."

Lena finished braiding Eve's hair, wrapping a ponytail holder around it.

"You don't know that for sure, it's not like you're gonna be thirteen forever, you know. You'll be eighteen before you know it and after that, age no longer matters, it's only a number. I wouldn't give up on David quite yet if I were you, you never know what could happen in the future, you just have to be patient a while longer."

"Why do you have to keep your relationship a secret? I mean, it's not like you're my age, you're an adult, if your dad doesn't like it, why don't you tell him to shove it?"

Lena sighed.

"I only wish it were that easy, I can't defy my father no matter how much Stefan and I love each other, our love must be kept secret at all costs."

Eve smiled.

"That might be kind of romantic though like Romeo and Juliet."

Lena chuckled.

"You do remember how Romeo and Juliet ended, don't you?"

Eve frowned.

"Oh yeah, they committed suicide, I forgot that part."

Vidar stood outside Eve's bedroom, his ear pressed to the door listening to the conversation between his daughter and the hybrid girl, his eyes flashing in anger as he went downstairs.

Selene groaned as she lowered herself slowly to the bed, one hand on the small of her back, the other cradling her swollen belly. She smiled and rubbed her belly as she felt the baby kick.

"Hello, little one, are you hungry? Mommy is."

She bent over to untie her shoes and growled in frustration.

"Michael, can you help me please, love?"

He stuck his head out of the bathroom door, toothbrush in hand.

"What's up, babe?"

She sighed.

"These shoes are killing me, my feet are swollen but I can't bend over to get them off. Plus, I'm starving."

He set the toothbrush on the sink and came into the bedroom. Kneeling in front of Selene, he untied her shoes, pulling them off and winced.

"Ooh, baby, your feet really are swollen, aren't they? Here."

He gently took her socks off and rubbed first one foot, then the other.

She sighed, closing her eyes.

"That feels so much better, thank you, love."

He stood up, kissing her.

"You're welcome, what would you like to eat?"

"Mmm, pizza."

Michael raised an eyebrow.

"You want pizza for breakfast?"

Selene nodded.

"Mmm-hmm, pineapple and anchovies."

"Dear God, that sounds disgusting," Michael muttered under his breath. "if you eat that you better not even think about kissing me until you've brushed your teeth at least twenty times."

"Did you say something Michael?"

He jumped, startled and smiled at her.

"Um, I don't know if any pizza places would be open this early babe, it's like 9:30 in the morning, I can see what we have in the kitchen though."

"Okay, thank you, I love you."

He smiled as he headed downstairs.

"Love you too."

Going into the kitchen, he hunted around until he found a frozen pizza in the freezer and a can of pineapple chunks in the pantry. Draining the juice into the kitchen sink, he placed the pineapples onto the pizza with a pair of salad tongs.

"Now," He muttered as he searched the pantry for the anchovies, " if I were a tin of disgusting smelly little fish, where would I be? That's easy, in the garbage because no one in their right freaking mind eats anchovies. Ugh, why can't she just crave pickles and ice cream or something?"

His eyes lit up as he spotted a can of sardines on a shelf in the back of the pantry. He shrugged as he pried them open with a butter knife, holding his breath as the smell hit him in the face and he fought the urge to gag.

"Not anchovies, but equally as gross, she'll never even know the difference."

Dumping them onto the pizza as fast as possible before he puked, he shoved the pizza in the oven and shut the door. He frowned as he heard shouting coming from the main room. He sighed.

"What the hell?"

"Father, please just listen," Lena implored, fighting to keep the anger out of her voice.

Vidar glared at his daughter hatefully.

"No, Lena, you've defied me for the last time. You've been sneaking around behind my back to see that lowlife scum since you were fourteen years old, well I won't stand for it any longer. It stops now even if I have to lock you in the dungeon and chain you to the wall."

" You can't do that, Father, I am the leader of this coven now, not you. I'm no longer a child, Stefan and I love each other and we intend to be married whether or not you approve, I tried my best to be a kind and obedient daughter to you all my life, especially after Mother died, but I love Stefan, Father. Please I beg you, try to understand."

"I will never understand the excuses of a whore."

Lena cowered in fear as her father raised his fist as if to strike her, but the blow never came. Michael squeezed her father's fist in his own until the bones cracked and Vidar cried out in pain.

"You lay so much as one finger on her and I will bitch slap you back and forth across this room until you cry like a little girl, are we clear?"

The former coven leader glared.

"Stay out of this hybrid, this is between me and my daughter, it does not concern you."

Michael growled a warning, letting his eyes shift to hybrid black for a moment.

"That's where you're wrong, it is my business now, you made it my business the second you raised your hand to a woman, not just any woman, but your own daughter, if you wanna hit someone so bad, tough guy, bring it, but once you do, you better be prepared to get beat down."

"Michael, that's quite enough, thank you for defending me, but you should get back to Selene now. As for you Father, I shall meet with Cassius and David and the rest of the Council tomorrow and decide your fate."

She paused and sniffed the air.

"Is something burning?"

Michael bolted for the kitchen, cursing.

"Crap, the pizza!"

Eve gasped and dropped her 3DS on the bed as her vision suddenly changed and she saw her mother stand up as a gush of what appeared to be water hit the floor and she bent over clutching the bed frame.

"Oh no, DAD!" Eve yelled running to find her father. She saw him running down the hallway toward his room with Olivia close at his heels, she could hear her mother screaming in pain and ran to keep up with him. She started to enter the room, but Michael pushed her back gently.

"Eve, you have to stay out here, sweetie, you can't come in."

She frowned.

"But Mom…" Michael closed the door in her face. "….said I could." She finished lamely to the closed bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock, then sighed and dropped it back to her side.

"Why even bother," she muttered sourly as her eyes filled with tears. "Not like they'll let me in anyway, so much for being included in everything."

She walked into the main room of the castle and curled up on the window seat, staring out at the rain streaking the window as tears streaked her face.

Lena came downstairs smiling as she saw Eve on the window seat.

"Eve, there you are, you have a baby brother, love."

As Lena drew closer, she realized Eve was asleep and frowned as she saw the dried tear stains on her face. Her hair stuck to her cheek as Lena brushed it back. She shook her shoulder gently.

"Eve, wake up, sweetheart."

"Mmm." Eve sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looked around in confusion.

"Aunt Lena, what time is it?"

"It's 6:00, your mother asked me to come find you, she wants you to come meet your baby brother."

"When was he born?"

"About an hour ago, come on."

Lena stood up, but Eve stayed where she was, staring down at her hands.

"No, thank you, Aunt Lena, I think I'll just stay here."

"Come on Eve, he's adorable, you'll love him when you see him."

She took Eve's hand attempting to pull her off the window seat, but she jerked her hand away, growling, as her eyes glowed.

"I said I don't want to." She snarled angrily. "They didn't want me there before, why the hell do they all of a sudden want me there now?"

Lena frowned, it wasn't like Eve to act this way, she had never heard her curse before. She sat beside her on the window seat, brushing her hair back.

"You shouldn't talk that way dear, it's not ladylike."

Eve sighed.

"Aunt Lena, I feel terrible right now and all you care about is that I said a bad word?"

"What's the matter? Come on, talk to me."

She shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, you'll just tell me I'm acting like a spoiled brat or a crybaby like my dad does whenever I'm upset about something he doesn't think I should be upset about."

Lena took Eve's hand, squeezing it gently.

"Come now, I think you know me better than that by now, your feelings matter too, Eve."

She shook her head, sobbing.

"No they don't, not to my parents anyway."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," Eve sniffled, taking the tissue Lena handed her, she blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "When they first told me my mom was pregnant, you remember how excited I was, I couldn't wait to help with everything, picking out baby clothes, decorating the nursery, picking out a name, everything and then they didn't let me do any of that stuff, they made all the decisions without even asking my opinion on anything. I didn't even get to see the sonograms because they always did them when I was in school. What did they name him?"

"I'll let your parents tell you that, it's not really my place to say anything."

Eve sighed.

"Whatever, my mom promised me I could be in the room with her when he was born, but when I tried to go in, my dad said no and shut the door in my face"

Lena hugged her.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sure your daddy didn't mean to hurt your feelings, it was just a stressful time, he was worried about your mom and he probably thought seeing her in so much pain would upset you, that's all. Come on, I have an idea that I think might cheer you up, come with me."

"I don't wanna see the baby."

Lena shook her head.

"That's not where we're going, not yet anyway, we're going to find the prettiest dress you own and then we're going to my room so I can do your hair and nails and makeup."

Eve shook her head.

"I'm not allowed to wear makeup yet, my parents said I have to be fifteen, if my dad sees me with makeup on, he'll chew me out and probably ground me."

"No he won't, don't worry, you won't get in trouble, if he gets mad, I'll tell him it was all my idea and he can get mad at me. Now, come on, it's been such a stressful day, let's have some fun, okay?"

Eve smiled.

"Okay, let's go."

While Eve was in her room picking out a dress and washing her face, Lena grabbed her curling iron from her bathroom and waited in her room for Eve. She plugged in the curling iron letting it heat up as she seated Eve at her vanity table and began to make her over.

Michael sat on the bed beside Selene who held their son cradled in her arms.

"He's so perfect, Michael."

He kissed her as he stroked their son's hair and smiled.

"Yes, he is, you did good, babe, was it very painful?"

"Oh my God, you have no idea, I thought I was going to die at one point, I think getting shot hurts less. You were screaming more than I was."

" Because you were practically breaking my hand, why didn't you just take the epidural when Olivia offered it to you?"

"Because I didn't know what was in it, I didn't wanna risk anything hurting him. I guess Eve decided she didn't wanna be in the room with us, after all, I promised her she could and she seemed really excited but she never came, I guess she changed her mind."

Michael sighed looking embarrassed.

"Actually, she did try to come in, I told her no."

Selene gave him an angry look.

"Why would you do that, Michael? Now, she's gonna think I lied to her and broke my promise."

" Well, I didn't know you told her she could, you didn't tell me that, besides, we were both stressed out and it's not an appropriate place for a child to be anyway."

Selene rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I could smack you right now, Eve is not a child, she's a young lady, learn the difference. She'll be fourteen in just a few months. It upset her so much that we did all the baby shopping and preparation while she was in school and she missed it all when she so badly wanted to be included, she cried for days, I felt horrible about it which is why I promised her she could be here for the birth."

Before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door and Lena stuck her head in.

"Are you up for a visitor? Eve and I have a surprise for you."

Selene smiled.

"Of course, come in."

Eve walked into the room slowly, as if she were nervous. She was dressed in a black velvet dress with a gold satin skirt and black flats. Lena had curled her hair so it fell down her back like a cascading waterfall. She wore gold eyeshadow that matched her dress and her nails had also been painted gold, her lips and cheeks held a lovely light pink hue.

"Oh, sweetheart, you look beautiful and so grown up, doesn't she, Michael?"

He frowned.

"Eve, what's our rule about makeup?"

She sighed.

"I know, Dad, I just wanted to feel pretty and good about myself for once, that's all."

"Wash it off and then go to your room."

"But…" She sighed and turned to Lena. " See, I told you this would happen."

Selene spoke up.

"Go wait for me love, I'll be right there, I want to have a word with your father."

Eve left the room looking absolutely heartbroken, Lena frowned.

"Please don't be mad at Eve, it's my fault, the makeover was my idea, she told me she wasn't allowed to wear makeup yet, but I convinced her it would be fun to surprise you. I should have asked your permission first, she was just so sad about missing everything with the baby, I wanted to cheer her up, I'm sorry."

Selene glared at Michael.

"It's not your fault, Lena, Michael is just being completely unreasonable about this. For God's sake, it's not like she got something permanent like a tattoo or a piercing, if she'd done that, your anger would be justified, I would be furious with her for doing that at her age, but last time I checked, makeup washes off, no one ever died from a little bit of eyeshadow and lip gloss. Lena, how old were you when you started wearing makeup?"

"I was right around Eve's age, fourteen or fifteen, that's usually the time girls start experimenting with that stuff. I don't mean to overstep my boundaries but Eve really did feel bad about missing the baby's birth, when you sent me to find her, she had cried herself to sleep curled up on the window seat. Have you told her yet that you're not having anymore children?"

Selene shook her head.

"No, that conversation can wait, she's had enough emotional upset for one day, I'm going to go talk to her."

Lena nodded.

"Alright, good luck, I need to go make some phone calls and congratulations on the baby again."

Michael smiled.

"Thank you, Lena, goodnight."

She left and Michael looked at Selene as she picked up the baby from his bassinet.

"Babe, I'm sorry I overreacted about Eve wearing makeup, it's fine with me if she starts to wear some as long as it's nothing too extreme. I need to go speak to Olivia about tutoring me for the test to get my medical license reinstated, tell Eve I'll come say goodnight to her before we go to bed, alright?"

She smiled.

"Alright, I love you, Michael, never forget that, no matter how mad I may get at you, I always love you. I'm going to take Toby in to meet his sister and spend some time with her, she's had a hard day too."

They kissed and Selene walked down the hall to Eve's room knocking softly on the door.

"Come in."

Selene entered the room. Eve had changed out of her dress and into a long pink t-shirt nightgown with teddy bears on the front with the words sweet dreams printed over their heads. She'd also taken a shower if her damp hair and clean face were any indication. She looked up and smiled scooting over on the bed to make room for Selene to sit. She sat beside Eve, smiling.

"Hello, love, I brought someone to meet you, this is Tobias Michael Corvin, but we nicknamed him Toby."

"Aww, he's so cute, can I hold him?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart, do you remember how to support his head?"

She nodded, laughing.

"Of course I do, you and Dad only made me practice on that stupid doll like a million times, I also remember how to feed him and burp him and everything else too."

She took the baby from her mother, smiling.

"Hello there, Toby, I'm Eve, I'm your big sister. Aww look, he has that same little weird dimple thing in his chin just like Dad."

Selene picked up Eve's iPad and unlocked it.

"Still playing Candy Crush huh? This game looks too complicated for me."

Eve smiled, playing with the baby's fingers.

"That's because I'm all the way up to like level 275 or something, you'd be better off starting at level 1, the higher you go, the harder it gets and I've been playing it for a long time."

She placed the baby in his carrier and turned to face her mother.

"Mom, why does Dad hate me so much, what did I do?"

Selene frowned at her daughter laying the iPad aside.

"Eve, your father doesn't hate you, he loves you very much."

Eve scowled.

"Could've fooled me, he's always mad at me for something, today really sucked, I wanted to be with you more than anything and he wouldn't even let me, then I was so excited to get dressed up and show you guys and he yelled at me for that too. It really made me feel like crap about myself, I'm almost fourteen years old and he treats me like I'm five, he didn't even know I existed when I was five."

Selene pulled Eve into her arms rocking her and stroking her hair as she broke down sobbing.

"Shh, baby, it's okay, I know it seems like your father is extra hard on you sometimes, but he doesn't mean to be, he just doesn't really know how to handle a teenage girl that's all."

Eve was silent.

"Eve?"

Selene glanced down and smiled as she saw her daughter asleep with her head in her lap. Carefully lifting the carrier onto the floor so as not to awaken the sleeping baby, Selene stood up cradling her sleeping daughter against her chest as she pulled the covers back and tucked Eve in, kissing her forehead and smoothing her hair back.

"Goodnight, my beautiful girl, sleep well."

Picking up the baby, she clicked off the lamp on Eve's bedside table and walked down the hall to her own room. Michael looked up from the medical book he was studying and smiled as Selene lifted Toby from the carrier, placing him gently in his bassinet.

"Is Eve still mad at me?" He asked as he removed his wire rimmed reading glasses and placed a bookmark into his book placing them on the nightstand beside the bed. The glasses were a silly affectation that he only wore to make himself look distinguished, as a hybrid his vision was beyond perfect. Selene teased him about them, even though secretly she thought they were sexy. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, cuddling up to him and resting her head on his chest as he put his arm around her, pulling her against his body.

"No, I think she was more hurt than angry, she thinks you hate her."

Michael scoffed.

"What, that's ridiculous, where would she get an idea like that?"

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe because you seem to criticize everything she does lately, she was really upset about missing a very important event today, an event I promised her she could be there for and that she'll never get the chance to do again until she has a child of her own someday, I thought she looked beautiful all dressed up and that gold eyeshadow brought out the blue in her eyes and she seemed so happy and you had to go and ruin it with your nasty comments. She said you made her feel like crap about herself and I can understand why, if I got all dressed up and made up to look pretty for you and you spoke to me like that, I'd feel bad about myself too."

Michael sighed.

"Oh man, am I a hypocrite or what? I threatened to beat the shit out of Lena's father earlier for verbally abusing Lena and here I am doing the exact same thing to Eve. God, I'm an idiot. I need to apologize to her."

Selene nodded.

"Yes, you absolutely do, but tomorrow, she was so exhausted she fell asleep with her head in my lap, poor thing. We need to get some sleep too because Mr. Toby is going to be waking us up in a couple hours wanting to eat or needing a diaper change and I'm exhausted myself, the blood I drank to get my strength back after he was born wore off hours ago, I feel like l'm about to pass out."

"Alright love, let's get some rest, I love you."

"Mmm, love you too." She mumbled, almost asleep. Reaching over to the nightstand, he turned out the light and quickly fell asleep.

Lena sat in front of the fire in her room, thinking over the situation with her father, trying to figure out what she should do, she had put in a call to Council headquarters and spoken to Cassius who had seemed distracted and said he'd call her back as soon as he could, so she'd been sitting with her cellphone in her lap for the past half hour impatiently waiting.

She jumped when it finally rang and impatiently tapped the screen to answer it.

"Cassius, I need to talk to you regarding my father, he…"

"Lena, I'm sorry but I'm afraid we have a much bigger situation to deal with at the moment."

"What's happened?" She asked alarmed by the strange tone in the Council leader's voice, he almost sounded as though he was in shock.

"It's unbelievable, we still can't figure out how it happened."

"How what happened?" Lena demanded impatiently.

"For God's sake Cassius, stop babbling and just get to the point already."

"Well, it would seem that the lady Amelia didn't die when Kraven ordered Soren to let the lycans attack the train carrying her and her envoy to Ordaghaz, she is still very much alive."

AN: Dun,Dun Dun…bet you all weren't expecting that, were you? Lol How do you think David will react to his mother being alive? We shall find out in the next chapter. I have decided to make this story around 20 chapters long with a HUGE surprise at the end and yes I am planning a sequel because I'm really enjoying writing this and I have a lot of ideas to continue the story onward, you guys wouldn't mind that would you? Please let me know, if you want me to continue, I will if not, I won't, just let me know. As always thank you so much for all the positive feedback and support, it means the world to me, XOX


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone as Lena tried to comprehend what the Council leader had just told her. Amelia alive, how was it possible? The lady Amelia had been her mother's best friend and Lena remembered only having seen her once when she was around four years old when she had come here with Thomas to give birth to David in secret so that Viktor wouldn't find out and try to use her son to blackmail her into doing what he wanted. Her only other knowledge of the former elder had come from reading her mother's diaries after she'd passed away. Victor's regent Kraven had sent one of his men to ensure that lycans attacked the train carrying Amelia and her envoy to Ordaghaz so that she could be entombed in order for Markus to take his turn as ruling elder. It had been believed that everyone aboard the train had died that night but apparently that was not the case. After several moments, Lena was finally able to find her voice.

"How is this possible, she died years ago."

"It was a ruse, she only pretended to be dead to fool the lycans into leaving and then once it was safe, she disappeared into hiding, she believed if the world thought her dead, her boy would remain safe and could grow up to assume his rightful place as leader of the Eastern coven."

"So, why did she suddenly decide to reveal the truth now, does David know? How can there be four elders, such a thing is unheard of, it's never before been done."

Cassius sighed.

"Amelia wishes to step down from her position as elder and let David carry on the lineage, she has requested a seat on the Council, there has never been a woman on the Council unless you count the brief time Semira was which I wasn't happy about, but Amelia is different, I've granted her request. The rest of the Council and I will be there tomorrow to address the situation with your father."

"Thank you, Cassius, I don't want to banish him from the coven, he is my father and I love him dearly, but he has no right to tell me who I can and cannot love, I'm not a child."

"I agree, that's none of his business, we shall discuss it further tomorrow once we arrive, goodnight Lena."

"Goodnight Cassius, thank you."

She hung up and glanced at the clock on the mantle, shocked to discover it was 3:00 A.M. She stood up putting another log on the fireplace, then quickly changed into her pajamas and went to bed.

David paced the length of the parlor in the Eastern coven glaring hatefully at the woman seated on the couch, his hands involuntarily kept clenching into fists and his teeth ground together so hard, he feared he'd need major dental work if he wasn't careful. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and menacing.

"Why have you come here, how is this even possible, you're supposed to be dead."

Amelia sighed.

"David, please let me explain."

He stopped pacing and faced her trying extremely hard to keep his temper in check.

"Explain what, Mother, why my entire childhood was nothing but a lie, why your damn coven and being an elder meant more to you than your son? Why you left me with an abusive father who treated me like crap while you were out living the life of royalty, go ahead, explain, I can't wait to hear the excuses you come up with to hide the fact you were a bad mother."

She sighed looking down so he wouldn't see the tears that had sprung to her eyes, when she spoke, her voice trembled.

"David, I love you, that's why I left, if Viktor or Markus had learned of your existence they would have had you killed to ensure you didn't steal their role as elder as was your right by birth, I have no doubt of that. I left to keep you safe because I love you, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't miss you, think about you and pray for your safety, that's why I faked my death because I knew that if the other elders discovered I was still alive after the lycans attacked my train, it would only be a matter of time before they found out about you, I couldn't let that happen, please please forgive me."

David sighed, stepping forward he pulled his mother into a hug.

"Mom, please don't cry, I'm sorry, I never knew any of that, Father never told me the truth, he told me you died giving birth to me, it wasn't until I arrived at the Northern coven with Selene and she gave me the ring containing your blood that I finally learned the truth and that my father had lied to me my entire life."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and returned his hug.

"Thank you my son, where is Thomas, is he here?"

David sighed as he took a seat next to his mother on the couch, he quickly explained what had happened when he and Selene had arrived at the Eastern coven. Amelia shook her head sadly.

"Poor Thomas, Semira always was a power hungry shrew, I've heard of Selene but I don't know much about her other than her killing Viktor, you seem rather fond of her though, you're not in love with her, are you?"

David shook his head.

"No nothing like that, she's in love with someone else, they've been together for years, they have two children, Eve and Toby. Eve is fourteen and Toby is just a few months old."

Amelia listened attentively as David explained Selene's past with Michael and how they met and his friendship with Eve.

She smiled knowingly at him as he finished his story.

"Something tells me you wish to be more than friends with Eve though, am I right?"

David raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, did you miss the part where I said she's fourteen, I'm almost twenty-seven that's illegal not to mention it would make me seem like a creep and her parents would kill me probably literally, if she were a few years older, yes I would want to date her if I'm completely honest about it because she's sweet and beautiful and perfect and knows me better than anyone, she's just way too young for me."

"So, you wait a few years until she's sixteen or seventeen, maybe by then her parents will approve of the idea, you said you've known them for two years already and her parents like you. David we're immortal, those of us who are turned stay frozen at whatever age we were turned for eternity, we never age beyond that. Purebloods like you and Eve only age to about thirty at most, we don't view age the same way humans do and we don't live by mortal laws, we have our own laws. You love this girl I can tell by the way you eyes light up when you talk about her."

David sighed, there was no use denying his feelings any longer. If his mother who he barely even knew could tell he loved Eve, how long did he think it would take Selene and Michael to figure it out as well?

Selene turned around in front of the full length mirror in her and Michael's room inspecting herself from every angle and let out a frustrated cry.

"Oh my God, UGH!"

Michael entered the room carrying Toby and ducked as a boot suddenly flew through the air toward him.

"Whoa, babe, what's with the flying shoes, what happened?"

She turned to face him frowning, a wrinkle forming between her brows as they drew together with worry as she took Toby from him and sat in the rocking chair to nurse him.

"Look at me Michael, I look like a cow, my boobs are enormous, my stomach looks like I have a spare tire around my waist and you could write the word "Goodyear" across my butt and fly me over a football stadium."

Michael walked over and kissed her being careful not to disturb the nursing baby.

"So you gained a little bit of baby weight, big deal. I've seen you in the gym with Lena training and swimming laps in the pool everyday, it'll come off before you know it, plus, you're breastfeeding so that will help too and you do not look like a cow, nowhere near it. I personally think you're gorgeous with a little bit of weight on you, I always worried you were too skinny before but I know how much you hate jeans and sweatshirts and how badly you want to get back into your leather suit. I love you babe, you're beautiful no matter what, stop getting so down on yourself, okay?"

She smiled as she shifted Toby to her shoulder gently patting his back until he burped.

"Goodness, you are such a big boy, aren't you? Babe, I think he's about ready for a nap, he's getting fussy, he probably needs a clean diaper too."

"Okay, come on little man, it's night night time. Oh before I forget, David called while you were swimming, he said he's planning to come for a visit in a few days, he has something he wants to talk to us about, but he didn't say what exactly, though I have my suspicions."

Selene waited until Michael had returned from the nursery and was sitting down before she spoke.

"David called me too, I know what he wants to talk to us about but if I tell you, you have to promise you won't fly off the handle and try to kill him, okay?"

Michael grinned.

"Aww, why not, it might be fun."

Selene frowned at him, clearly not amused.

"Michael I'm serious, you can't hurt David."

"I was joking, I would never hurt David, what's going on?"

"I think he's developed feelings for our daughter, now I know you think he's too old for her but he promised me he wouldn't even kiss her for at least another year, they wouldn't technically be dating, at least not yet, he just wants to give her a promise ring to signify his intent to date her in a year or two when she's old enough."

Michael was silent for a moment, then he sighed.

"Well, I honestly can't believe I'm about to say this but I don't think that would be the worst thing that could happen to Eve, I know when I first met David, I basically said there was no way in Hell I would ever let them date, but that's when she was twelve and I didn't know him at all, I barely knew her back then, but things are different now. I don't think they need to date yet, fourteen is still a bit too young in my opinion, but I'd be fine with it in a couple years, so if he wants to give her a promise ring, it's fine with me, although I do think we should talk to him first."

Selene nodded.

"I agree, but David's a good man and I have no doubt he'll take care of her. They've been talking every day since we got her a laptop for her birthday and the smartphone he sent her.

After she followed all of our rules for her iPad so well, I didn't see much point in withholding a phone or computer anymore, she's proved she's responsible enough to have them now, she's matured a lot in two years, she's no longer the timid scared little girl David and I found cowering in an alley outside Antigen."

Michael smiled.

"I know and the best part is, her taste in music has improved greatly, no more Hannah Montana or Justin Bieber, she listens to stuff like Evanescence and Within Temptation now."

Selene rolled her eyes.

"Thank God for that, I wasn't sure how much more of that horrible Bieber kid I could stand, especially considering it was my laptop she was downloading it to to put it on her iPod, now that she has her own computer, I can finally delete it all, she also listens to a bunch of 80's and 90's music now which is kind of weird since she wasn't even born yet then."

He nodded.

"It does seen a little odd that someone born in 2004 would like music that's almost twenty years older than she is but I think a lot of that is Lena rubbing off on her and possibly David too considering I think he listens to pretty much the same kind of stuff and honestly as much as most music sucks nowadays, I'd almost prefer she listen to the older stuff. Music nowadays is disgusting for the most part or else every song is auto tuned and sounds exactly the same, I'm glad she's exposed to older music when people actually sang and songs had meaning instead of either being copies of each other or else nothing but drug references, sex references or cussing."

Selene burst out laughing.

" Baby, you do realize you're making yourself sound old, right?"

She mimicked an old man voice.

"Back in my day, music was better and TV was better and we had to walk five miles uphill barefoot in the snow to school everyday."

He threw a pillow at her playfully.

"Shut up, I do not sound like that, besides I'm not the one that was alive when Mozart and Beethoven were composing music Miss "I'm almost 700 years old."

She crossed her arms.

"Oh, you did not just go there."

He smirked.

"Oh, I definitely did, the question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"You are going down hybrid."

"Bring it, Death Dealer, I dare you."

Before he had time to even blink, Michael found himself flat on his back on the bed with Selene playfully punching him. Transforming to his hybrid form, he quickly reversed their positions so that Selene was underneath him with her wrists pinned to the mattress, they wrestled playfully until suddenly without even knowing how it came about, they were kissing passionately teeth and tongues clashing in a battle for dominance, rolling about on the bed, pillows flying, Selene had pulled Michael's shirt free from his jeans and was working on his belt when a voice from the doorway startled them.

"Jeez, you two just had a baby, going for number three already?"

They jumped apart, startled and turned to see David standing in the doorway, arms crossed trying not to laugh. They both sat up as Michael tucked his shirt in and fixed his belt.

"Hi David, we weren't expecting you until tomorrow, what are you doing here already?"

He entered the room and sat in the rocking chair.

"I wanted to talk to both of you as soon as possible about Eve, my mother is running things at the coven until I return."

He looked around.

"Where is Eve?"

"She was in her room playing the PS3 last I knew, why don't you check there first? If she's not in her room, ask Lena."

He started to stand up but Michael stopped him.

"David wait a minute please before you talk to Eve, Selene and I need to talk to you regarding this promise ring you intend to give her and what exactly it signifies, we don't want her dating at fourteen."

David nodded.

"I know that and I don't intend for it to become that for quite awhile, by the time she's old enough to date in a year or two, she may not even want to be with me that way anymore, the promise ring is just to let her know that I love her and I'll always be here if she needs me, don't worry, I'm not gonna kiss her. It's a "I'll be your boyfriend someday if you want me, but in the meantime, I'll be your best friend and always protect you" ring."

Michael nodded.

"So, it's basically just a friendship ring then."

"For now, yes."

"Okay, I don't see the harm in that, she mentioned something about needing to study for a quiz in Health class tomorrow, she's probably in her room."

"Okay, but first, I wanted to ask if it would be okay if she comes to spend the summer with me at my coven when school gets out, she wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and train to be a Death Dealer when she grows up, I'd like to help with that, plus, I miss her."

Selene nodded.

"Of course she can, David, there's much more to Death Dealer training than she realizes though, it's not all weapons and fighting which is what she no doubt thinks, she'll need to work on strength training, endurance and agility as well."

Michael looked confused.

"Why does she need to work on that stuff, I mean she's a hybrid, she was born with like super strength and speed and healing and all that, what does she need weight training for?"

"it teaches responsibility and a good work ethic, plus when you're fighting huge lycans you need to be as strong as possible."

David nodded.

"Selene is right, I will work her little butt off all summer get her into fighting form and then next year Selene can start the weapons training."

She grinned.

"If you did that, I'd kick your ass, teaching her to use weapons is Mama's job, I reserve that right."

"Yes, Ma'am, now I'm going to find Eve and talk to her, I'll see you guys later."

He walked down the hall and knocked on Eve's door. She was laying on her bed watching TV . She stood up hugging him.

"David, you're here, I thought you weren't coming til tomorrow?"

He sat on the bed pulling her down beside him.

"That was the original plan, but I missed my princess, I really wanted to see your pretty face""

"You better hang on tight, Spidermonkey."

He glanced at the TV and rolled his eyes.

"Oh God, you're watching Twilight AGAIN? Eve, how many times do we have to go over this? This movie sucks and vampires don't sparkle. They did get the werewolves right though, kind of except for that whole imprinting thing,What teenager falls in love with a newborn baby that's just so extremely wrong and creepy. Oh God, why am I thinking about this?"

Eve laughed.

Eve laughed.

"No, silly, it wasn't like that. He wasn't in love with her as a baby, that didn't happen until much later after she was grown up. Before then, he just protected her like a big brother, kind of like us."

David looked away uncomfortably.

"Yeah okay whatever, movie still sucked."

She sighed and turned off the TV turning on the stereo instead.

"There is that better, Mr. Picky?"

David raised an eyebrow at the so ng playing through the iPod dock on Eve's dresser.

"Breaking Benjamin? That's certainly a switch from Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Victoria Justice, what brought that about?"

Eve shrugged.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, I was sick of that kind of music, I wanted to listen to something a little more grown up. That's what Aunt Lena would play when we went riding and I liked it. Plus, I went on YouTube and looked up some of the songs you like too."

He grinned.

"And you used to say my music sucked, I knew I'd convert you eventually, I'm actually glad you still use an iPod, most people just listen to music on their phones, but trust me, if you're jogging or working out, you don't wanna risk dropping your phone, they're not cheap to replace. That's why an iPod is better for that."

"I know not many people use them anymore, especially people my age but I like to keep my music separate from everything else. Plus, I have a lot of songs and not a lot of storage on my phone."

He nodded.

"I have something for you, but first, how would you like to come spend your summer vacation with me at the Eastern coven?"

She grinned.

"I'd love that David, but I'd have to ask my parents first, they may need my help with Toby."

He shook his head.

"Nope, I already asked them, you get to spend the entire summer with me and I'm going to start your Death Dealer training, so be prepared to work harder than you ever have, I'm not gonna go easy on you just because we're friends, it's gonna be hard, you're gonna be sore as hell and you'll probably hate me a good deal of the time, are you sure you still wanna do this?"

She nodded.

"Of course, I may only be fourteen, but I know what I want, I want to be a Death Dealer like my mom, I don't care how hard it is, I'm not scared of a little hard work."

He grinned.

"That's my girl, now I have another surprise for you."

He pulled the gold ring with the red heart shaped stone from his pocket and held it up.

"This is a promise ring, do you know what it means?"

She shook her head.

"No, not exactly."

He smiled as he slipped it on her finger.

"I means I love you, Eve and someday we'll be together forever but until then I promise to always protect you and be your best friend and get into mischief with you until you're old enough for me to officially become your boyfriend or until the day comes you decide you don't want me to be your boyfriend and then I'll step aside and let you be happy with whomever you choose even if it's not me."

She looked up at him blinking back tears.

"David, are you saying you want to date me?"

He nodded.

"Someday baby, yes, we have to wait a little while longer though, that's why I'm giving you this ring so you know you have my heart from this moment forward."

He slipped the ring on Eve's finger and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, princess."

She smiled, leaning against him as he put his arm around her.

"I love you too, David, you know you're the only one who calls me princess. My mom says I really am a princess because she's an elder now but I can't have my coronation until next year when I turn fifteen, I'm not sure why, Lena just said it was tradition, will you come?"

He kissed the top of her head.

"Of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss it for the world. By the way, your makeup looks really pretty, I don't think I've ever seen you wear it before."

She blushed.

"Thanks, I've only recently been allowed to wear it, ever since my birthday. Lena gave me a makeover the night Toby was born and my dad went ballistic, I ended up crying and he and my mom got into this huge argument and he finally caved and said I could wear it as long as it was light colors only. I'm not allowed to wear dark lipstick or eyeshadow or bright red lipstick or anything, the only thing I'm allowed to wear dark is nail polish. I guess Dad doesn't care about that, I've painted my nails black before and he didn't say anything about it."

"Well I think you look beautiful."

"Thank you, but enough about makeup, you're a guy, guys don't care about that stuff, let's talk about something else. Tell me about your coven, how is it there? I bet it's weird having your mom back huh, especially after thinking she was dead all this time. I know it was strange for me when I first met my mom."

Eve suddenly realized she was babbling and blushed, looking down.

"Sorry I'm talking too much, aren't I? I'll shut up now."

David laughed, ruffling her hair playfully.

"You can talk as much as you like, I don't mind a bit. The coven is beautiful, you'll love it, you have your own room there and the best part is, it doesn't rain and snow all the time there, so you'll be able to wear shorts and skirts again instead of long pants all the time. My mom is really excited to meet you too, she hasn't shut up about it since I told her you were coming."

Eve smiled.

"Aww, I can't wait to meet her, is it really weird for you having her back?"

He nodded.

"It was at first, when she first arrived at the coven, I was furious, but I'm used to it now, I'm glad she's here now. You should pack and get some sleep, we'll leave first thing in the morning."

She nodded.

"Okay, goodnight, love you."

David smiled.

"I love you too, sweetheart, see you in the morning."

"David?"

He turned to face her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you ask my mom to come see me before she goes to bed? I need to talk to her about something important."

"Of course I will, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

David went downstairs and found Selene sitting on the couch in the main room working on her laptop. She looked up as he entered and closed the computer sitting it aside.

"Hello, David, Lena fixed up your old room for you, how is Eve?"

"She's fine, I gave her the ring and told her about the workouts I plan to make her do, she seems really excited about it. She really wants to be a Death Dealer like her mom, I let her know I wasn't gonna go easy on her, either, it didn't seem to deter her any though. She wants to talk to you before bed, she's upstairs packing right now."

Selene nodded, standing up.

"Alright, I'll go talk to her, thank you David, goodnight."

Eve looked up from packing and smiled as Selene knocked on her door.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?"

"Not much love, I saw David downstairs, he said you wanted to talk to me, is everything okay, do you need help packing?"

Eve shook her head sitting beside her mother on the bed.

"No, I'm done with that, it didn't take long. Mom, are you sure you and Dad are okay with me spending the summer with David and his mom at their coven? I don't have to go, I can stay here. Aunt Lena is busy planning her wedding to Stefan, everything is crazy busy around here right now, maybe I shouldn't go."

Selene smiled, stroking Eve's hair tenderly.

"Of course you should go, we know how much you and David miss each other, he's going to help with training you too. Eve, are you sure you want to be a Death Dealer, you don't have to follow in my footsteps, I hope I never made you think that, you can do anything you want, you know that right?"

Eve nodded.

"I know that, Mom, but this is what I want to do, you're my heroine, I want to be just like you."

Selene hugged her daughter tight as her eyes filled with tears.

"Baby, that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me, just so long as you realize that training is a lot of hard work, it's not all just shooting guns and fighting. In fact, that will be one of the very last things you learn, I'll train you with weapons myself, but before you get to that stage, you have to build up your strength and endurance because even though you're a hybrid, you still need to be as strong as possible because you never know what you might be faced with and you need to be prepared for anything and everything."

"What will David make me do?"

" He and I discussed that, I wrote up the training program that was used during my training, it consists of running, lifting weights, jumping rope, hitting a punching bag, sit ups, push ups, learning hand to hand combat and the weapons training which I will do later, his job is to get you strong and battle ready, then I'll take over with the weapons training. You still wanna do this now that you know how hard it's going to be? You're going to work muscles you didn't even know you had and hurt in places you've never felt pain before. When I first started training, I was so sore for the first couple weeks that walking was like some new form of torture, I had to take hot baths every night just to be able to move and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow, but as time went on and I got stronger, the workouts got easier and it will be the same for you."

Eve nodded.

"Who trained you?"

"His name was Kahn, he was the weapons expert in Viktor's coven, he was one of my closest friends."

"What happened to him?"

Selene frowned at the memory of her old comrade.

"He was killed by a lycan, it was a long time ago. You should go to bed, love, it's late and David will probably want to get an early start back tomorrow."

Eve smiled as Selene tucked her in.

"Goodnight Mom, I love you."

"I love you too, Eve, goodnight sweetheart."

As she closed her daughter's bedroom door and walked down the hall toward her own room, Selene couldn't help but fear that her daughter following in her footsteps would inevitably end in tragedy.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer and AN: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter done, I meant to have it up sooner but I've been busy and real life took precedence so I took a break from writing, I'll try to get future chapters up a little quicker, I promise.

Eve stared in awe as the gates of the Eastern coven swung open and the mansion came into view.

"Oh wow, this place is huge and the best part is, it's not freezing."

David laughed as the driver pulled to a stop and opened the car door for them.

"Told you, it actually gets really warm here, thank you Frederick."

The chauffeur bowed.

"My pleasure, my lord, princess."

David took Eve's hand and led her through the large double doors and into the foyer of the mansion. Their footsteps echoed against the black and white marble floors as she looked around in wonder.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, David."

He smiled.

"Wait til you see your room, my mom decorated it for you."

He looked up smiling as Amelia came downstairs.

"Well, speak of the devil, hello Mother."

Amelia smiled as she kissed her son's cheek and hugged Eve.

"Hello love, this must be Eve, it's so nice to finally meet you, sweetheart, David's told me so much about you, I feel like I know you already."

Eve smiled, returning Amelia's hug.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Ma'am, David's told me a lot about you too."

"Well, aren't you just a sweetheart, but please, call me Amelia, Ma'am makes me feel like someone's grandmother, I'll go get your room ready for you while David shows you around the rest of the castle."

Eve smiled.

"Thank you, Amelia."

"We might be awhile coming up, Mom, neither of us have had dinner yet."

"It's okay, take your time, I have a gift for you, Eve, I left it on the bed in your room."

She went upstairs with Eve's suitcase as David took her hand and kissed her forehead.

"What would you like for dinner, sweetie? I can make you anything you like."

She shrugged.

"I'm really not that hungry, a mug of blood is fine."

He looked concerned.

"Tired, princess?

She nodded.

"A little, but I don't wanna go to bed yet, I wanna see the castle so I don't end up in a closet trying to find the bathroom or something. This place is huge."

He laughed.

"You have your own bathroom right next to your bedroom just like at home, so I don't see that being a problem, come on."

She followed him into the kitchen as he poured two blood bags into mugs and heated then in the microwave. He opened the giant refrigerator showing her the contents.

"We have pretty much anything you might possibly want to eat in here, it's all healthy though, if you're gonna train to be a Death Dealer, junk food is off limits."

He took a couple of muffins out of the bread box as Eve took their mugs out of the microwave and brought them to the table.

"It's okay, I don't really like junk food, it tastes gross to me, my mom never really let me have it often anyway, I was never even allowed to drink soda because she said it would rot my teeth and the few times I drank it behind her back, it just made my stomach hurt. She always thought vampires were allergic to human food, anyway."

David sat at the table opposite her and sipped his mug of blood as he broke off a piece of a cranberry muffin and popped it in his mouth chewing slowly.

"That's just a myth, as long as we keep blood in our system, vampires can eat whatever we want, we just don't get nutrition from it the same way humans do."

They finished eating and David showed her the rest of the castle before leading her upstairs.

"My room is two doors down from yours and that's my mom's room at the end of the hall, last door on the left and this is your room."

He opened the door and switched on the light as she looked around the large room. The walls had been painted a light peach and white and the furniture was white with peach colored cushions on the chairs and a peach colored settee at the foot of the bed. The bedspread and canopy were peach colored as well as the bed curtains that draped down on either side of the bed, there were also white throw pillows on the bed.

.

"Do you like it, sweetheart?"

Eve smiled as Amelia entered the room and nodded.

"It's beautiful, thank you so much for doing this for me."

It was at that moment that she noticed the large leather bound book sitting on the bed, she picked it up, looking at Amelia curiously.

"What's this?"

"Every Death Dealer throughout history wrote a diary, this one is your mother's, I thought you might like to read it since you're training to be a Death Dealer too."

Eve opened the small leather book and flipped through it then hugged Amelia.

"Thank you so much, I'll read some of this tonight before I go to sleep, it'll be interesting to see what my mom's life was like before we met each other."

David smiled.

"Goodnight Eve, don't stay up too late, we start training tomorrow, but don't worry, I won't turn into an army drill sergeant. I'm not gonna make you wake up at five AM to run laps or bounce quarters off your bed or anything. I figured we'd start around nine AM after everyone's awake and had breakfast, how's that sound?"

She nodded.

"Okay, sounds good to me, I'll see you both tomorrow, goodnight."

They left closing the door behind them. Eve went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth and then she climbed into bed and began reading her mother's journal.

January 15, 2004

Viktor leaving Kraven in charge of the coven while he is in hibernation is quite possibly the worst decision he could've made. Far be it from me to criticize or question the decisions of the elders, but as I told Erika earlier tonight, Kraven is a bureaucrat not a warrior. I fear the only reason he wants to rule the coven, other than his lust for power is his lust for me. Somewhere in that twisted warped brain of his, he has this idea that he and I are a couple but nothing could be further from the truth, I despise him with a passion, that's how I found myself in the subway station tonight on the trail of the lycans and that's when I first saw the striking young American. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties and as loathe as I am to admit it, my heart sped up a little when our eyes met, my euphoria was short lived however as the lycans opened fire on the subway station, the last I saw of him, he was kneeling in a puddle of blood tending to a young woman with a bullet wound in her leg, I shall however find out his identity for I have a feeling he will play an important role in the outcome of this war…

'Could that be my father?' Eve wondered as she reluctantly closed the diary and set it aside, it was late and she didn't want David mad at her for over sleeping and missing her first day of training, as she turned out the light and tried to fall asleep, she wondered what other secrets her mother's diary held in store for her.

The next morning, Eve dressed in black leggings and a loose hot pink t-shirt and went downstairs for breakfast. As she entered the kitchen, David looked up from the stove and smiled.

"Good morning Eve, I made eggs would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

She sat at the table as David brought their plates over and sat down across from her.

"What are we going to do in training today?"

"Weights and jump rope today, swimming and running tomorrow, I thought we'd alternate different things on different days, so it doesn't get boring just doing the same thing over and over day after day, I don't want you to get burnt out too soon. We'll work out for an hour or so and then we can just hang out and relax, maybe watch a movie or play video games or something."

Eve nodded as she put their empty plates in the sink and followed David to the gym. She looked around curiously as they entered the room. There were mats scattered throughout the room on the floor and she saw a weight bench and various other exercise equipment in the corners of the room and a punching bag hung from the ceiling. David walked over to a rack or dumbbells and handed her two five pound ones.

"I want you to do four sets of ten and then we'll move on to the punching bag."

He watched counting as Eve did bicep curls.

"8, 9, 10…good, now let's try hitting the punching bag, I don't think the boxing gloves I have will fit you because you have such small hands so I'm just gonna wrap them instead."

She watched as David wrapped what looked like masking tape around both of her hands.

"What is this for?"

"It's so you don't split your knuckles open or bruise your hands up, hitting a punching bag bare handed hurts like a bitch, trust me."

He looked embarrassed as he realized what he'd said.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't talk like that around you, it's inappropriate."

She laughed shaking her head.

"David, I'm not five years old, I've heard people cuss before and it's not like I'm going to repeat it to my parents or anything, I'm not that stupid, give me some credit here."

He laughed.

"Are you sure you're fourteen, you act wise beyond your years sometimes."

She shrugged as she began throwing punches at the bag, she knew in her hybrid form, she could break the chain it hung from and send it flying across the room, but in human form her punches barely moved it.

"Well, when you grow up like I had to, you're forced to grow up kinda fast, I've only been allowed to be a normal kid for two years and technically I'm not even a kid anymore, I'm a teenager, as for why I sound so wise as you put it, I guess that's because I've read so many books, reading was the only thing I was allowed to do in Antigen and most of the books my caretaker brought me were adult books, Alexander Dumas, William Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, I read Jane Eyre when I was ten and Romeo and Juliet."

David looked concerned as he suddenly saw Eve wince in pain and put her hand on her side.

"You okay, sweetheart?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I just got a cramp in my side, it's gone now though, I'm okay."

David frowned as he looked at his watch.

"Wow, it's past noon already, why don't we call it a day with this and go hang out in my room for awhile, we can watch a movie on Hulu or Netflix, we have both or we can play the PS4 if you want, what do you say?"

She nodded.

"I don't really feel like playing video games right now, I'm kinda tired, I'd rather just watch TV with you, but I'm warning you, I like older shows from the 90's and early 2000's."

David sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh Jeez, you're not gonna make me watch Beverly Hills 90210 or Dawson's Creek or something, are you?"

She grinned.

"I might or maybe Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill."

David groaned and pretended to fall over.

"Please just shoot me now, granted Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill aren't that old, but Dawson's Creek was on before you were even born, how do you even know about that show anyway?"

She shrugged.

"Lena showed it to me, we have Netflix and Hulu at home too, you know. I'm not like most girls my age, I can't stand reality shows, I think they're the stupidest things ever created and that's all that's ever on TV it seems like, so yes, I like older shows more, at least they make sense. We can watch whatever you want, I don't care."

They went to his room and laid down on the bed as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Eve snuggled up to him laying her head on his chest as he scrolled through Hulu finally stopping on a show called Finding Carter.

Eve smiled.

"Let's watch that, I used to see TV commercials for it all the time but never actually watched it."

"Okay, what's it about?"

"It's about this girl who was kidnapped when she was like three or four and then ends up being found by her real family when she's like fifteen and she has to get used to living with them."

"UGH, it sounds like a teenage soap opera."

Eve shrugged.

"It kind of is, I guess, it was on MTV a couple years ago, I think it got canceled or something."

As they watched the show, David felt Eve trembling and heard her breathing change, he glanced at her concerned.

"You okay, baby girl?"

"I think so…my stomach kind of hurts, I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

The minute she stood up, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the floor unconscious. David leaped off the bed barely managing to catch her before she cracked her head on his nightstand. He lowered her to the floor cradling her limp body in his arms, his voice panicked sounding.

"Eve, wake up baby, it's David, open your eyes, come on sweetie."

When he got no reply, he pulled out his phone and called the coven doctor.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer : I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

David paced the corridor outside the closed doors of the coven's infirmary. He had brought Eve here the minute she collapsed, that had been over an hour ago and he still hadn't heard anything. Just when he thought he'd lose his mind if he didn't hear something soon, the infirmary door opened and the doctor approached him.

"Robert, how is she, what happened?"

The coven doctor appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties, but David knew he was actually close to three hundred, as was the case with all vampires looks were often deceiving. The doctor ran his hand through his blonde hair and pushed his wire rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose before replying.

"Eve had appendicitis, I had to take her appendix out immediately, it would've ruptured if I hadn't, are her parents coming?"

David nodded.

"I called them, they're on their way, but they have to drive all the way from the Northern coven so it'll be awhile before they get here. Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded as he led David into the infirmary and over to Eve's bed.

"She's not awake yet, but you can sit with her until her parents arrive."

"Thank you, Robert."

He pulled the curtain surrounding the bed closed on one side to separate them from the only other patient in the room, a female Death Dealer with a bandage wrapped around her leg.

David pulled a chair up beside Eve's bed and took her hand in his, she was dressed in a blue hospital gown and white socks and had an I.V. in her arm. The blanket was pulled up to her chin and he watched as it rose and fell with her breathing, her dark hair was spread out and appeared black against the stark white pillowcase, he sighed speaking softly.

" Oh princess, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well, I wouldn't have made you train if I'd known you were sick, I should've figured it out this morning when you barely touched your breakfast though . God, your parents are going to kill me, they'll probably take you home and never let you visit me ever again."

"That's not true David, it wasn't your fault."

He jumped startled and turned to find Selene standing just outside the curtain surrounding Eve's bed, he stood up and hugged her.

"Hello Selene, I'm so glad you're finally here."

He looked around.

"Where's Michael?"

Selene returned David's hug, setting the bag she was carrying on the end of Eve's bed.

"He'll be here in a few minutes, he went to talk to the doctor about Eve. David, please don't blame yourself, Eve getting sick was not your fault, the doctor said she had appendicitis, what exactly happened?"

" We trained for about an hour then we just hung out in my room watching TV, she seemed kind of sluggish this morning and barely touched her breakfast, but my mother had given her one of your journals last night and so I assumed she'd stayed up too late reading and was tired. We were laying on my bed watching Hulu when she stood up to go to the bathroom and passed out, I brought her here immediately and then called you. I just feel so stupid, I should've known something was wrong, she just wasn't acting like herself."

Selene sighed.

"David stop this, she didn't say a word about not feeling well, did she?"

He shook his head.

"No."

"Well that's all the more reason to stop beating yourself up, you're not a mind reader, how were you supposed to know unless she tells you?"

She reached into the bag on the bed and pulled something out showing it to David.

"We had to replace her 3DS because the one you bought her a couple years ago had a little accident with a marble floor. She loves this thing, she plays it all the time so we figured she might notice it missing."

David took the box from Selene examining the picture on the front. It was black with blue trim and blue buttons. He handed it back to her, looking embarrassed.

"She'll love it, it's the most current model with the bigger screen and everything, the one I bought her has been out for like seven years, it was outdated when I bought it, but it was literally the only purple one I found anywhere, how did it break?"

"That was my fault, I was playing it and I set it down on the couch to go to the bathroom and when I came back, I found Toby chewing on it because he's teething so everything he gets his hands on goes into his mouth, when I tried to get it away from him, it hit the floor and shattered the screen, it was dangling by one hinge."

Selene smiled as Michael walked in and stood next to her. David laughed shaking his head.

"Oh no, hi Michael, how are you doing?"

Before he could answer, they heard a moan from the bed and Eve opened her eyes.

"Ugh, I feel terrible, where am I?"

David hurried to her side and kissed her forehead.

"Hey sweetie, you're okay, you just got a little sick that's all, you fainted in my room so I bought you to the infirmary to get checked out. Look who's here."

Eve smiled as she saw her parents standing at the foot of her bed.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad, what happened?"

Selene stepped forward and smiled, kissing her cheek.

"You had appendicitis and had to have surgery but it's all over and you're fine now you just need to rest and get your strength back."

Eve stiffened and drew away hissing in fear as the doctor approached her.

He smiled reassuringly.

"Hey Eve, I'm Robert, I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to check your stitches and then you can get out of here and go rest in your own bed instead of this yucky old hospital bed, how's that sound?"

Eve nodded nervously.

"O-okay."

Michael stood beside Eve's bed holding her hand as the doctor examined her incision.

"Hey sweetie, I know this really sucks, but I think I might be able to make it better, I got you something."

She smiled.

"Aww Daddy, I'm terrified of hospitals because…well, you know why, I think the only thing that's gonna make me feel better is being back in my own bed."

He set a box in her lap.

"Since you're not gonna be able to train for awhile maybe this will help you not be as bored. There was a little accident with your old 3DS, the baby got ahold of it and when I tried to get it away from him, it fell and broke the screen. I was going to get you another one just like it, but when I was looking online, I saw this newer updated one and thought you might like it better, it has a bigger screen than your old one did, it also doesn't have 3D, but I didn't realize that til after I ordered it, it also only comes in black and teal, sorry."

She smiled and hugged him.

"Aww, thanks, I was planning to get a new one because mine was getting old from being played so much. I never cared about the 3D anyway, most of the time I kept it turned off because it made the screen blurry and gave me a headache. The color is pretty but if I get bored with it I can always buy a case for it. Thank you, Dad."

"You're welcome, let's get you back to your room, what do you say?"

"Yes please, the sooner I get out of here the happier I'll be."

Michael helped her into a wheelchair and pushed her down the hall to her room, he lifted her into bed and tucked her in, setting her new DS and the small pink case that held her games beside her on the bed.

"There you go, I already got it set up for you. I put it back in the box so you could open it yourself but it's all ready to go all you'll have to do is put in the wifi password. I brought your carrying case your other one was in too. I don't know if this one will fit since it's bigger than the old one but if it doesn't, we'll get you a new case, okay?"

" This case was way too big for my old DS, but this one should fit okay."

She took the DS out of the box and slid it into the case, zipping it closed.

Michael smiled.

"I know you wanted a Nintendo Switch, but it was a lot more expensive than the DS, we'll talk about it maybe for Christmas. In the meantime, you have a whole case full of 3DS games to keep you busy."

She nodded.

"I know my old one getting broken was an accident, I'm not mad at you and I'm certainly not mad at my Toby bug, it was worn out from being played so much, and I was planning to get this one anyway for the bigger screen."

They both turned as Selene knocked on the door.

"May I come in?"

"Of course Mom, what's up?"

Selene smiled.

"I just came to see how you're feeling, do you need anything, love?"

"Can you bring me a drink, please?"

"Of course, is tea okay?"

"Sure, thanks, I love you."

"I love you too, Eve, I'll be right back."

Michael smiled and kissed Eve's cheek.

"I'm going to go downstairs, you need to rest and I need to get something to eat, enjoy your games and I'll see you later, okay? I'll come up and say goodnight before your mom and I go to bed."

She nodded.

"Thanks for everything Dad, I love you."

"You're welcome, I love you too baby."

Michael went downstairs to the kitchen and took a blood bag out of the fridge and poured it into a mug heating it in the microwave.

Selene put a brownie on a plate and poured a glass of tea, smiling as Michael took his blood out of the microwave and sipped it.

"Hey handsome, how's our girl doing?"

"She's tired, but other than that she seems okay, she's playing her new DS, she'll probably fall asleep soon though, she seems pretty wiped out. Speaking of which, I'm pretty tired too, I think I'm gonna go watch TV in our room, I'll call Lena and Stefan and check on Toby too."

She nodded.

"Alright I'll be there soon, I wanna spend some time with Eve before bed, I won't be long."

He kissed her and headed upstairs.

"I love you."

"I love you too Michael."

Selene walked into Eve's room and set the glass of tea and brownie on the nightstand, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"There's your tea love, Amelia made some brownies too, I brought you one. Do you mind if I sit with you for awhile?"

"Of course you can."

Eve scooted over in bed and Selene lay down next to her, idly playing with her daughter's hair.

"What game are you playing?"

"It's called Bejeweled, it's like Candy Crush except instead of candy you match jewels, it's fun, you wanna try?"

She shook her head.

No thank you, I'm no good at video games, I've tried to play them with your dad a few times and failed miserably, the controls are too complicated for me, your dad likes them though especially the shooting ones."

Eve laughed.

"Wow, it's ironic that you suck at those, especially since you're like an expert with real guns, you'd think those games would be a piece of cake for you. I never liked them, I'm more into puzzle games, Tetris , Mario, the Sims, Nintendo games, that's why I gave my PS3 to Dad because I hardly ever played it."

Eve put her DS away and snuggled up to Selene, resting her head on her mother's chest.

"Eve, are you having fun here with David or do you want to come home? You don't have to, it's completely up to you, your dad and I just wanted to let you know you can come home anytime you want to."

Eve shook her head.

"Mom if it's okay with you and Dad, I'd like to stay here like I originally planned to, David and I don't really get to see each other very often anymore since he moved here and as much as I miss him, I know he needs to be here with his mom right now. I'm going to be starting high school soon and then all we'll have is video chats and phone calls for awhile. I miss him and wanna be with him in person for as long as I can. Plus I'll be healed in a day or two and able to continue my training which is part of the reason I came here in the first place."

Selene nodded and kissed Eve's forehead as she stood up.

" Okay, you can stay, it's fine, just promise you'll call and Skype us occasionally, we can't have Toby forgetting what sissy looks like."

"Of course I will, I promise."

"Alright, I need to go check on your dad and you need to get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning okay?"

"Okay, I love you, goodnight Mom."

"I love you too Eve, goodnight."

As Selene closed her daughter's bedroom door and turned to head to her own room, she bumped into David causing him to drop the box in his hands, he knelt to pick it up before Selene saw what it was but he wasn't fast enough. She glanced at it and crossed her arms giving him a look.

"What's the dirty look for?"

"That Nintendo Switch is yours, right David because I know you wouldn't buy Eve something that expensive without asking us first."

"Damn, that is an excellent guilt trip, okay yes, I did buy it for Eve, but you're right, I shouldn't have bought her something this expensive without asking you and Michael first. I'm sorry, I'll take it back and she'll never even know about it. I'll get her a new game for her 3DS or an Amazon gift card."

Selene nodded.

"That would be much better and more appropriate, it was very sweet of you to buy Eve a present, just not that kind of present, especially considering her father and I told her she had to wait til Christmas. I'm going to bed now, goodnight David."

"Goodnight Selene, I'll see you in the morning, is Eve still awake?"

"I don't know, why don't you go find out."

She walked into her room and sighed, closing the door and leaning against it.

"Oh my God, can this day possibly get any worse? I really don't know how much more I can take."

Michael turned off the TV and got up, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.

"What's wrong baby, you seem upset, is Eve okay?"

"Eve is fine, she's asleep, I'm just a little upset with David right now. He went and bought Eve the new video game she wants, the one we told her she had to wait until Christmas to get without even asking us first."

He looked confused.

"That's what you're so upset about? Eve is sick maybe he wanted to buy her a get well present to make her feel better, what's the big deal?"

She glared at him.

" The big deal Michael is that it wasn't an appropriate gift, flowers or a teddy bear, maybe a gift card, those are get well gifts, not three hundred dollar video game consoles."

"So what did you tell him?"

"I told him it was too expensive and he shouldn't have bought her something that big without asking our permission first and that we were planning to get her one for Christmas. He said he'd take it back and get her some new DS games or an Amazon gift card or something not quite so extravagant and he apologized."

"So what are you so upset about? Sounds to me like everything worked out fine, now can we please go to bed, it's been a long stressful day and I'm tired."

"Of course love, I'm sorry, come on, let's get some sleep, we're both exhausted, tomorrow we'll talk to David and tell him from now on no more presents over say thirty dollars, unless it's her birthday or Christmas okay?"

They both got into bed and Michael turned out the light. Selene sighed, snuggling up to him.

"I'm sorry Michael, I did kinda overreact about the video game, didn't I?"

He chuckled and then yawned.

"Maybe just a little, but can we talk about it tomorrow, I'm about to pass out."

"Of course love, I'm sorry, goodnight, I love you."

Selene lay in the dark staring at the ceiling, the room was silent except for the sound of Michael snoring. Sighing, she got up and went outside standing on the balcony. As she watched lightning arc across the sky a shiver raced down her spine and a feeling of dread filled her heart, she didn't know what, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was about to befall them.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm so extremely sorry I suck at updating lately, please don't hate on me too much, real life has been totally kicking my ass lately. I had an unforeseen family situation arise and real life got in the way and had to take precedence for a while and then I got writer's block and couldn't think of anything to write. Lol As always please read and review thanks.

A petite brown haired woman dressed in a grey hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans with holes in both knees and dirty white sneakers hurried down a busy city street, she had her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her hoodie and was staring at the ground as she walked, oblivious to the people rushing past her until she ran into someone and looked up startled to find a heavy set balding middle aged man in a blue windbreaker glaring at her.

"Hey, watch it lady, are you blind, pay attention."

She jumped startled and turned beet red stammering an apology.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I'm looking for this address, it's my fiancé's apartment building, I'm supposed to move in with him, his name is Michael Corvin, he's a medical student."

The man took the paper she held studying the address.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you, but there ain't no apartment building at this address, it's a bar, they tore those apartments down and built a bar there."'

She looked at him, confused.

"When, are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Yup, about ten years ago, you said your fiancé was a medical student, have you checked the hospitals, maybe he works at one of them, try that and good luck, I hope you find him."

She nodded and smiled.

"I'm sure I will, thanks for your help."

"Sure thing, good luck."

She watched as he walked away, then found the nearest payphone, she copied an address from the phone book and hailed a cab.

"Paging Dr. Lockwood to emergency, Dr. Adam Lockwood please come to emergency…"

A man dressed in dark slacks, a blue shirt and a white lab coat, a stethoscope draped around his neck hurried down the hall toward the emergency room.

"Alright already, I'm coming." He muttered, his voice taking on a frustrated tone as he raked his fingers through his graying black hair, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose impatiently. He picked up speed almost running as he neared the ER and heard a woman shouting in panic and saw two orderlies dressed in white scrubs trying to restrain her as she struggled to break their hold on her.

" Let go of me, I need to find him, I'm not crazy, get your hands off me, I have rights, you know."

He hurried over, approaching the woman slowly in case she got violent and spoke in a calm soothing voice.

"Ma'am, I'm Dr. Lockwood, can I help you, who is it you're looking for?"

The woman stopped struggling and blinked in confusion looking at him with wide frightened eyes like a deer caught in headlights. When she spoke her voice trembled.

"M-Michael Corvin, I was told he worked in this hospital. Is he here?"

Adam's jaw dropped in shock and he stared blankly into space as he recalled the last time he'd laid eyes on Michael Corvin.

Adam walked into an exam room and was reaching for the light switch when he suddenly found himself being slammed against the wall. He stared in shock at his fellow intern. Michael's hair and clothes were dripping from the rain but it was the frightened almost crazed look in his eyes that freaked Adam out the most. He jumped, startled as he struggled to loosen the death grip his friend had on his lab coat.

"Whoa, Mike, what happened? Don't take this the wrong way but you look like shit, dude."

Michael shook his head from side to side like a wet dog, sending droplets of rain water flying and raked his fingers through his wet dirty blond hair.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you man, hell I'm not even sure I believe it."

"Try me."

Michael sat on the exam table and took a deep breath before telling his friend about the crazy night he'd had.

" After we finished the surgery on that girl from the subway shootout, I went home fully intending to go to bed, but when I got there, the door was wide open and this drop dead gorgeous woman was in my apartment going through my stuff. She was the same woman I had seen in the subway, but before I could ask her what she was doing or how she got in, she slammed me against the wall by my throat and started screaming "Why are they after you?" Then next thing I know, these huge dogs are crashing through my apartment ceiling, she starts shooting at them so I take that opportunity while this crazy chick is distracted to get the hell out of Dodge, but just as I make it to the elevator, the doors open and this guy with a beard and a British accent is standing in the elevator and the next thing I know, he's biting me and subway woman is dragging me out of the building and shoving me into her car."

Adam stared at Michael incredulously.

"Michael, you really need to go home, call in sick for a couple days and get some sleep, you're so exhausted you're not making sense. I mean, some strange woman in your apartment, giant dogs crashing through the ceiling, strange men in the elevator, it sounds crazy, you're working too hard and it's messing with your mind."

Adam put on gloves and opened a bottle of rubbing alcohol, soaking a gauze pad, he dabbed at the cuts and scratches on Michael's forehead.

"Look I know you probably think I'm psych ward material, but I swear it's true, ever since he bit me, I've been having these hallucinations, I've been having these delusions, all I know is it feels like my skull is…is splitting in half."

Adam's forehead wrinkled in consternation.

"So wait, let me get this straight, a full grown man bit you?"

Michael glared at him and pulled the shoulder of his black t-shirt down, exposing an ugly bite wound that was well on its way to becoming infected. Adam stared in disbelief as Michael became even more angry and agitated.

"Jesus…Michael are you sure this wasn't a dog?"

He pulled back slightly as the other man grabbed his wrist, the look in his eyes becoming more and more desperate with each passing moment.

"No, it was a man…"

"Okay…"

"It was a man, he's after me and that woman, the woman from the subway…"

Adam rolled his eyes, trying to keep a straight face at the utter ridiculousness of this entire situation, he was seriously beginning to suspect that his colleague was on drugs.

"What woman?"

Michael began to breathe faster as he fought to keep his temper in check.

"Have you not been listening to me," He screamed. "SHE TOOK ME HOSTAGE!"

Adam pulled off his rubber gloves and threw them into the trashcan by the door as he patted his friend on the back.

"Okay, I'll be right back, okay, just calm down Michael."

He opened the exam room door and walked quickly down the hallway trying to get as far away from the other man as possible. He needed to find those two cops that had been looking for Michael earlier and let them know he had returned to the hospital.

"Doctor Lockwood, are you alright?"

Adam shook his head, the memory dissipating and returned to the present, as several nurses and orderlies stared at him with concerned looks on their faces. He ignored the question and focused his attention on the distraught woman standing before him. He wondered if she was homeless, her clothes were dirty and her greasy hair was hanging in her face and looked as though she hadn't brushed it in a day or two. He put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"What's your name?"

"Sam, Uh, Samantha Burroughs, I was told Michael worked here, I called every hospital in the phone book and they all said no one by that name worked there, so I came here, is he here?" She looked around the room.

Adam sighed.

"Michael did used to work in this hospital, but that was a long time ago, he's not here now, I'm sorry. Do you need some help, can I call you a cab, help you get somewhere? There's a shelter right down the road. Do you have someone we can call for you, family, a friend?"

She glared at him shaking her head.

"No, you're lying to me just like the doctors in that horrible place my parents put me in after the car accident, they told me I had died, the paramedics managed to resuscitate me, but that I had been in a coma for months. When I woke up all I wanted was to see Michael but no one knew where he was, my parents got so sick of hearing about it, they sent me to a clinic all the way in Hungary just so they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. I just want Michael, why won't you tell me where he is?"

She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands as she rocked back and forth sobbing hysterically and moaning Michael's name.

"Michael, my darling, why can't I find you, where are you? Please come back to me, please…"

Adam knelt by her side on the floor and spoke in a soothing voice in an attempt to calm the hysterically distraught woman.

"Michael hasn't worked in this hospital in almost fifteen years, I have no idea where he could be, I wish I could help you, but I have no idea how to find him, I'm sorry."

He gently helped her to her feet and led her a few feet away from the other medical personnel, speaking in a low voice to ensure they wouldn't be overhead. If anyone knew what he was about to do, he could be fired and possibly lose his medical license. It was a giant breach of ethics to help a patient in a non-medical capacity but Adam didn't care, if he got caught, he'd deal with the fallout whatever it may be. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt sorry for this poor pathetic creature and wanted to help her in any way he could. He pulled a prescription pad out of his coat pocket and wrote something on the back, ripping the page off he handed it to her.

"Here, go to this address, it's my apartment, I think I might be able to help you find Michael, but you can't tell anyone, if anyone found out about this, I could lose my job. Make yourself at home, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, you can take a shower and clean up a bit, get something to eat. My ex-girlfriend Amanda left some of her clothes in the guest room, you can wear them and sleep in there. My shift ends at 10:00,I'll come straight home and start looking online for information on Michael."

She smiled taking the paper from him.

"Thanks, doctor, I really appreciate this, I can't wait to see Michael again."

Adam nodded.

"It's no problem, the spare key is under the flower pot beside the front door, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, watch TV, whatever you want to do, I'll see you when I get home and please call me Adam."

"Thank you, Adam."

She left the hospital and walked until she found the apartment building he lived in. Locating the key under the flower pot right where he said it would be, she went inside, looking around curiously. A worn brown leather couch dominated the living room, a glass topped coffee table sat in front of it with a couple of remote controls sitting on it. There was an entertainment center directly across from the couch containing a plasma TV and a Blu-ray player. A bookshelf on one wall held his Blu-ray and DVD collection, matching end tables and lamps adorned each end of the couch like bookends. The opposite wall held a table with a fish tank sitting on it. She smiled as she stared at the colorful fish swimming around and then walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Grabbing a soda, she made herself a sandwich and ate it as she explored the rest of the apartment.

"I wonder if he lives alone," She mused as she found the bathroom and went in closing the door behind her and locking it to ensure privacy just in case he came home before she was finished. After using the bathroom, she undressed and folded her clothes placing them on top of the hamper before stepping into the shower and turning it on. Adjusting the water until it was as hot as she could stand it, she closed her eyes and sighed feeling the tension slowly leave her as the warm water cascaded over her body like a waterfall. She lathered her hair, working her fingers through it to loosen the knots, then tipped her head back under the spray, rinsing the shampoo out. Reaching for the body wash on the shelf in front of her, she lathered her body and washed herself. Her breathing sped up slightly as she ran the washcloth over her breasts imaging Michael's hands on her body, she lingered over her stomach remembering the night of the accident, she was going to tell him she was pregnant at the rehearsal dinner but they never arrived and when she woke up in the hospital, her parents were there and the doctors said she'd lost the baby and had been in a coma for over a month. Her parents never liked Michael and had tried to forbid her marrying him, but since she was over eighteen there was nothing they could do to stop them. They got scared when she insisted the doctors were wrong and that her baby was still alive and Michael was coming back for them any day now. One day her mother had walked in on Samantha with a pillow under her shirt looking down and talking to it as if she were pregnant, it wasn't long after that that they had sent her to the psychiatric hospital to get help after she told them about the voices

"Samantha, it's Adam, are you here?"

Jerked out of her reverie by the sound of his voice coming from the living room, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower grabbing a towel from the linen closet, she dried off and put on the robe she found hanging on the back of the door.

"I'll be out in a minute, I'm just getting out of the shower."

Wrapping a towel around her hair, she opened the bathroom door and stepped out walking into the living room. Adam was sitting on the couch, beer in hand watching ESPN, he looked up as she entered and smiled.

"Hey, how are you?" He frowned. "You're wearing my robe."

She looked down blushing.

"Oh, sorry, it was hanging on the back of the bathroom door and I heard you come in as I was getting out of the shower, I didn't want to come out in just a towel, I'll go get dressed now."

He nodded.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. The guest room is down that hallway," he pointed towards the back of the apartment.

"Like I said before some of my ex's stuff is still in the closet, help yourself to whatever you find, did you get something to eat? I can make you something if you'd like."

She smiled shaking her head.

"Thanks, but I'm fine, I made myself a sandwich earlier before I took a shower, I'm kind of tired, I think I'm just gonna go to bed."

Adam nodded.

"I'm kinda wired, I can never fall asleep as soon as I get home, I think I'll get started on trying to track down Michael for you."

She stared at him, a confused look crossing her face.

"How are you going to do that, call the police, file a missing person's report?"

He raised his eyebrows giving her a strange look.

"Uh no, why would I call the police? I'm going to look it up online, see what Information I can track down via the internet."

She laughed, nervously shifting from one foot to the other.

"Oh right, the internet, of course, let me know what you find, goodnight, see you in the morning."

"Night."

She walked into the guest room and closed the door behind her, going to the dresser she opened the top drawer and pulled out clean underwear and socks, taking off the robe, she tossed it onto a nearby chair and put on the clean undergarments. Opening another drawer she found a long pink nightshirt and shorts. Putting them on, she was about to turn out the light and get into bed when a picture sitting on the bedside table caught her eye. Picking it up, she studied it carefully, Adam was standing next to a pretty blond haired woman, the woman held a baby while two older children stood beside her, smiling at the camera. She pulled the blankets back and crawled into bed still staring at the picture, a faraway look crossing her face.

Adam sat hunched over his desk, his laptop open in front of him as he feverishly typed into the search engine, looking for anything he could find on his former colleague. He found the article on the subway shootout from 2003 and quickly scrolled past it. He stopped when he saw the name Samantha Burroughs followed by Shady Hills Sanitarium.

"What the hell…?"

He clicked on the link and his eyes widened in horror as he read the web page.

May 16, 2003

Patient Name: Samantha L. Burroughs

Patient ID # 526740

Diagnosis: Paranoid Schizophrenia/Hallucinations

Primary Physician: Dr. Gregory Fields

Patient exhibits signs of Schizophrenia and paranoia associated with an automobile accident occurring in the winter of 2002. Patient was unresponsive at the scene, paramedics managed to resuscitate the patient who later slipped into a coma. The patient's fiancé Michael Corvin was also at the scene suffering from a broken leg, a concussion and various other minor injuries for which he was treated and released. Mr. Corvin was denied information regarding the condition of the patient at the request of the patient's parents. Police reported upon arrival at the scene, that part of the car's engine was in the front seat crushing the patient's lower body and abdomen resulting in loss of pregnancy and a head injury which resulted in the patient remaining in a coma for approximately six weeks. Upon awakening, patient was disoriented and became hysterical upon learning of her miscarriage. The patient remained in the hospital for three weeks and was released into her parent's care. Approximately one month later, the patient's mother reported her daughter's odd behavior after having walked in on her daughter talking to her fiancé even though there was no one else in the room, she also reported witnessing her daughter walking around with a pillow under her clothes as if she were pregnant and referring to it as her "baby ". The patient's parents took her to her primary care physician who after a thorough examination referred her to the psychiatric floor of the hospital in Rhode Island where she stayed for approximately two weeks before being referred to us here at Shady Hills in Budapest Hungary after a rather disturbing incident involving an attack on a nurse wherein she stole a fork from the cafeteria and hid it in her clothes attempting to stab a nurse who tried to administer medication to the patient. Once she arrived at our facility, she was placed in the care of Dr. Fields who prescribed group therapy as well as one on one sessions with him. When the patient's mental state did not appear to be improved after three months, therapy was declared unsuccessful and the patient was placed on anti psychotic medication.

Adam stopped reading and sat back in shock. He couldn't believe he was harboring a mental patient. 'Way to go, Lockwood,' he thought to himself as he looked up the number of Shady Hills and dialed asking to speak to Dr. Fields. Once again, his empathetic nature had landed him in deep shit.

"Hello, Dr. Fields, this is Dr. Adam Lockwood from Sacred Heart Medical Center in Budapest. We had a patient come into our ER tonight who I believe may be a former patient of yours, a woman by the name of Samantha Burroughs, that's the name she gave us. She didn't have any ID on her but she looks to be in her mid to late 30's, when she came into our hospital, she was extremely agitated was screaming about her fiancé Michael Corvin demanding to see him. I explained to her that I knew Michael, we used to work together, but he hasn't worked at that hospital for many years. She became very distraught, it took two orderlies to restrain her so she wouldn't hurt herself or anyone else."

There was a lengthy silence on the other end of the line and Adam wondered if they'd lost the connection, but when the other doctor finally spoke, his voice had a panicked edge to it.

"Doctor Lockwood, Miss Burroughs is extremely dangerous, we didn't release her, she assaulted one of our staff who had taken her out for a walk and escaped, she's extremely mentally unstable and unpredictable. She hears voices and talks to people who aren't actually there. If she returns to your hospital, call the police immediately and then call me, my number is 555- 6732 that's my personal cellphone. Do not under any circumstances try to apprehend her yourself."

Adam suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and slowly turned around in his chair to discover Samantha standing behind him, staring at the glowing screen of his laptop with narrowed suspicious eyes.

"Who's on the phone?" She asked, nonchalantly staring at him.

"No one, just my job, I thought you were asleep, it's like two A.M., I'm about to go to bed myself."

He hung up the phone and stretched his arms over his head, giving an exaggerated yawn, before he could get up, she spoke."

"Interesting website you found there, Somebody's been doing his research I see, I don't think that was your job on the phone just now, oh no. I think somebody was sticking his nose where it doesn't belong,, Michael told me you'd do that, he warned me not to trust you."

"Michael's not here, I know the truth Samantha, I know you escaped from the mental hospital, I'm going to call your doctor and tell him you're here, so they can come get you, you're sick, you need help."

He picked up the phone but before he could dial, she picked up the lamp from his end table and brought it crashing down on the back of his head. He slumped forward unconscious and slithered like a snake to the floor. She shook her head sadly as she pulled a utility knife from her jeans pocket and cut the cord off the lamp using it to secure Adam's hands securely behind his back. She had changed into street clothes as soon as she overhead him talking on the phone and figured out what he'd done. She couldn't let them catch her, she refused to go back to that horrible place. She dragged his limp body over to the coat closet and put him inside propping him against the wall.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she sat down at his laptop, closing out the window containing her file from the hospital, she smiled in glee when she saw what the second window he'd brought up contained, there in front of her on the computer screen was Michael's current address, she grabbed a pen and a pad of paper and quickly jotted it down before walking out the door.

"I'll see you soon my love, it won't be long now and we'll be together again, the way we should've been all along."

Then she walked out the door.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Disclaimer and author's note: I don't own Underworld and no copyright infringement is intended.

Hey guys, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up, but I've been busy with real life. I was in Florida for two weeks on vacation and then when we got back I got sick. I apologize for my slowness in updating. As always please read and review.

Lena walked through the castle and upstairs to the baby's nursery, the sound of crying growing louder as she approached.

"Shhh, Toby, Aunt Lena's here, baby boy."

Flipping the light switch on, she walked to his crib and lifted the crying baby to her shoulder.

"What's the matter, huh? Are you hungry?"

She walked to the rocking chair and sat down rocking him gently patting his back.

"Stefan," She called looking over her shoulder as he passed the open door.

"Yes, love?" The soft light from the small rose lamp on the table glowed on his light brown hair as he walked into the room and stood behind the rocking chair, his hand resting on Lena's shoulder.

"Would you mind making the baby a bottle, please? As soon as he's settled for the night, we can go to bed too."

He smiled, kissing the top of Lena's head, he reached down stroking the baby's hair and smiled as Toby reached up and grasped his finger.

"Of course I will, but you have to give me my finger back, little man. I'll be right back."

"Thank you. Aww, shh, I know Uncle Stefan took his finger away when you wanted to chew on it. It's okay he'll be right back with yummy stuff."

She rocked him humming softly and rubbed his back.

"Here we go, look what I have for you."

Stefan returned with a bottle and took her place in the rocker feeding the baby as Lena walked to the open window looking out across the garden. She shivered as a cold wind blew the curtains back, she closed the windows rubbing her arms to dispel the chill as she watched her boyfriend lay the baby gently in his crib.

"Rain is in the air, there'll be a storm before morning, Eve will be home and back to school soon."

Stefan nodded as he straightened up and smiled pulling her into his arms.

"It's almost fall which means we'll have to start keeping the fireplaces lit in every room or else it'll be freezing in here constantly, any word on when Selene and Michael will be home?"

She nodded, pulling a blanket over the sleeping baby and turned, putting her arms around him, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Selene called me earlier, they'll be home tomorrow night, Eve is much better, hybrids heal extremely quickly, they just stayed a few extra days to visit with her and David and his mother. Eve is going to stay a bit longer since school doesn't start for about a month yet, David will bring her home in a few weeks."

Stefan leaned over the crib running his hand gently over Toby's hair.

"Goodnight buddy, sweet dreams little man."

Lena leaned over and kissed the baby's forehead.

"Goodnight baby, Aunt Lena loves you."

Taking Stefan's hand, she turned out the light leaving the small nightlight glowing and closed the door gently as they walked down the hall toward their bedroom.

Lena walked into the bathroom changing into her nightgown, she brushed her teeth and climbed into bed as Stefan went into the bathroom.

"I was thinking as soon as Michael and Selene get back, maybe you and I could go away for a few days, just the two of us, would you like that?"

He finished in the bathroom and turned out the light climbing into bed.

"Lena, did you hear me?"

She jumped startled and turned to face him, smiling apologetically.

"I'm sorry love, what did you say?"

"I was saying that as soon as Michael and Selene bring Eve home, you and I should take a trip for a few days."

She nodded.

"Yes, that would be nice."

He reached over stroking Lena's hair tenderly.

"What's wrong, you're a million miles away, tell me what's bothering you."

She frowned, staring towards the windows anxiously.

"Maybe we should bring Toby in here with us tonight, it's going to storm, he might get scared. I'm going to go get him."

She started to get up but Stefan put a hand on her shoulder stopping her and shook his head gently.

"No Lena, we were just in there, he's sleeping, I can hear him breathing on the baby monitor, he's fine. You've brought him in here with us for the past two nights, he needs to sleep in his own room, otherwise he'll end up spoiled and he'll cry and refuse to sleep unless he's with an adult and I don't think Selene and Michael are going to want him in their room every night when they get home. We have the monitor we can hear if he needs us."

He turned on the TV and put his arm around her as she sighed laying her head on his chest. She stared blankly at the TV, not paying attention to the movie. She couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to check on the baby, but she stayed where she was, her boyfriend was right, she was being paranoid.

'I'll check on him later' was her last conscious thought before she drifted off to sleep.

Samantha turned off the water in the sink and rubbed her hair vigorously with a towel as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her normally dark brown hair was now strawberry blonde and her brown eyes were blue thanks to colored contacts. Turning out the bathroom light, she walked down the hall of the apartment she had rented for herself and into the guest bedroom which had been turned into a nursery. She had rented the apartment with money and credit cards she had stolen from Adam Lockwood's wallet. Walking slowly around the room, she smiled to herself running her hand lightly over the baby furniture scattered throughout the room. Soon she would be living here with Michael and their baby and everything would be perfect, just like it used to be. She looked down into the empty crib and smiled softly in anticipation.

"Don't worry, Brandon, soon we'll find your daddy and we'll be together and happy again, I promise, it won't be long now, my love."

Turning out the light in the nursery, she left the apartment and hailed a cab to the train station and Michael.

BOOM!

Lena jumped, startled awake by the violently loud clap of thunder and the sudden staccato drumming of rain on the castle's roof. A flash of lightning lit up the room and she glanced over to find Stefan sound asleep beside her, his arm thrown over his eyes, snoring. Getting up, she put on her robe and walked down the hall on silent feet and into the nursery. Flipping on the light she walked over to the baby'ѕ crib.

"Baby, are you hungry?"

She blinked repeatedly rubbing her eyes as she tried to convince herself she wasn't staring into an empty crib. She looked up as a flash of lightning lit up the room, staring in shock at the wide open window.

He stayed in the shadows, the rain helping cloak him from sight as he cradled the crying baby against his chest to shield him from the rain. Samantha would kill him if anything happened to the kid. He ran the last few feet to the apartment knocking on the door as the baby screamed louder.

"Samantha, it's Erivan, open the door before this kid's screeching wakes the whole neighborhood."

The apartment door was pulled open and she pulled him inside quickly taking the baby from him.

"Shh, my little Brandon, Mommy's here, everything's okay now, Daddy will be home soon."

The young man glared at her.

"Okay, I got you the kid, where's my payment? When I met you in that bar, you told me…"

"I know what I told you Erivan and I'll see to it you get to kill this Selene woman, okay? The bitch stole Michael from me, I want her dead too but it won't be easy."

He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, no shit Sherlock, do you know anything about her at all? Other than the fact that you hate her because you think she stole your man?"

Samantha walked into the nursery and laid the baby gently in the crib, then turned to face him arms crossed, an annoyed look on her face.

"That's reason enough, I'm going to be with Michael again even if I have to kill her to do it. Besides, I could ask you the same question, why are you helping me, what do you get out of this?"

He shrugged as he reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew a pack of cigarettes. Tapping the pack against his palm, he extracted one and put it between his lips, he pulled a lighter from his jeans pocket and lit it, taking a long drag and blowing the smoke toward the ceiling.

"That's easy, bitch killed my father, I grew up without a dad because of Selene, at least that's what my mother always told me."

Samantha glared at him as she waved the smoke away frantically.

"Hey, didn't I say no smoking near the baby, did you write the note like I told you to?"

He rolled his eyes as he pinched out the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, not even wincing as it burned him.

"Yeah, left it in the brat's crib where they'd be sure to see it, now when do I get paid? Like I told you before I don't do anything for free. I want the ten grand you promised me, I got you the kid, now where the hell's my money?"

She smirked.

"Don't worry, you'll get your money as soon as you finish the job, I promise, I don't welsh on deals."

"What job would that be? I got you the kid, what else do you want me to do?"

She smiled gleefully.

"You're gonna help me build an army."

Eve walked downstairs carrying her laptop, she paused on the last step, a look of confusion crossing her face. Her mother was pacing back and forth, her cellphone pressed to her ear, speaking rapidly, her boot steps echoing loudly on the marble floor.

"David, my computer is acting weird, can you look at it? I think it has a virus or something."

"Sssh, Eve be quiet, your mom is checking on Toby." Michael waved his hand frantically trying to shush his daughter, his eyes never leaving his mate as she paced, her low voice took on a frantic edge as she spoke to Lena.

"Lena calm down, breathe, I can't understand you when you're crying, what happened, is Toby sick, does he have a fever, he might be teething…"

Eve made an annoyed face behind her father's back and sighed.

" Fine," she muttered sitting on the couch, closed computer resting on her knees, " I just need it for school in a few weeks, no big deal."

"Eve, chill, I'll take a look at it, I'm sure I can get it running again, did you run a virus scan on it?"

She nodded.

"Yes, but it didn't find anything, I don't know what's wrong with the stupid thing. I wish my parents had just bought me a laptop like yours, this one sucks, this isn't the first time I've had problems with it."

"I don't know, Evie, MacBooks are really expensive, they probably figured a fourteen year old didn't need a thousand dollar computer, but don't worry I'll get yours running again, let me see it."

She started to hand it to David when suddenly her vision was filled with a picture of the Northern coven, she saw a strange man in a black hoodie and jeans lift her baby brother from his crib and jump out the window into the rain disappearing into the night. She gasped as her vision cleared and stood up forgetting the computer on her lap, it crashed to the marble floor, shattering the screen and breaking the hinges before David could catch it. Eve didn't notice however, too concerned with the vision she'd just had as she hurried to her parents side.

"Did you see that?" She asked as her mother hung up the phone exchanging a worried look with Michael. Her expression remained calm but both Michael and Eve saw the fear in her eyes as she nodded.

"Yes, it would appear that Toby has inherited your gift of showing us what he sees and vice versa, we saw it through him and I guess you saw it through us, Eve. We must return home immediately."

"I'll go pack my stuff," Eve turned and started up the stairs toward her room.

"You're not coming with us, you're staying here with David and Amelia, you've already been kidnapped and almost killed once, I won't have both of my children put in harm's way."

She came back down the stairs slowly, an angry look on her face.

"Toby is my baby brother, I'm going with you to help find him, you can't stop me."

Eve glared at her mother, arms crossed and her mouth set in a firm line, an obstinate expression on her face.

David bent down to pick up the pieces of Eve's laptop from the floor. The right hinge was broken and the screen was completely shattered, he knew there was no way he'd be able to fix it, but he wanted to be there in case Eve lost her temper. He'd seen the young hybrid pissed before and it wasn't pretty, he knew she could easily overpower Selene and Michael was back in the castle's infirmary helping the coven's doctor and might not be able to get there in time if Eve decided to attack her mother. He pretended to be trying to fix the computer as he listened to the mother and daughter argue.

"Eve Cecilia Corvin, if you know what's good for you you'll drop that tone right now."

"Or what Selene, you'll kick my ass? Just try it, I dare you."

Selene gave her daughter a murderous look.

" Stop cursing Eve, it's not attractive and stop calling me Selene, I'm your mother, it's disrespectful."

"You want my respect, earn it and why should I call you Mom, you're not a mother, you suck at it. As far as I'm concerned, Lida was my mother and she's dead, therefore, I have no mother."

Selene felt tears sting her eyes at her daughter's hurtful words, but she swallowed hard forcing them down determined not to cry in front of her. Before she could respond, Eve spoke again.

"It's hard for me to consider you my mom, you don't act like one, not to me anyway. What I told you when we first met is still very much true, you are as cold as one already dead."

Selene sighed as she rubbed her forehead, her brow furrowed, she felt a headache coming on as she spoke in a weary voice.

"Eve, please don't start this, not now, I'm sorry you had to grow up like you did, I've told you that a million times, your father and I didn't plan to be captured by Antigen, it just happened. We were trying to escape the purge that night, but before we reached the boat they spotted us, they hit your father in the chest with some type of missile or something, I dove into the water to save him and the next thing I know I'm waking up locked in a freezer twelve years later with a daughter I never knew about. If it were up to us, your dad and I would've raised you from birth just like Toby but we weren't given that opportunity, it doesn't mean we love you any less though, we love you and your brother both equally."

"I don't believe you, you cuddle Toby and hold him all the time, you barely even hug me. Why don't you just admit you hate me? You'll always love Toby more because you've had him since the day he was born, I've only been with you for two years, you'll never love me the way you love him."

With tears streaming down her face, she turned and ran up the stairs.

"Eve, that's not true sweetheart, I love you very much baby…"

The only reply Selene received was the sound of Eve's bedroom door slamming, she winced as Michael arrived, a knapsack slung over one shoulder.

"We need to go, I got some supplies for the trip back home, medical supplies in case we need them and extra blood bags."

He frowned as he saw the worried expression on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."

She walked quickly toward the exit strapping her guns to her hips.

"Our son has been kidnapped, now come on before we miss our train."

They were both silent as they boarded the train that would take them back to the Northern coven. Michael watched Selene's face reflected in the window as she watched the trees speed past outside, after what seemed an eternity, she spoke.

"Eve hates me, she told me I wasn't her mother, Lida was."

He moved to sit beside her putting his arm around her.

"Babe, you know she didn't mean it, she was just upset about Toby, Eve loves you. She's just a teenage girl, they overreact and make everything into huge drama, she'll be okay, we need to concentrate on finding our son right now."

She didn't say anything just continued to stare out the window lost in her own thoughts, he decided to change the subject.

"I was thinking maybe we should get Eve a MacBook for Christmas, I don't know if you noticed, but when we all had the vision about Toby, she stood up really fast and her computer kind of hit the floor, she's gonna need a new one for school. Now, I realize a thousand dollars is insane for a fourteen year old, but it doesn't have to be brand new, we can get her a good used one online for around four or five hundred dollars, she's done pretty well taking care of the Netbook we got her two years ago up til now and it's not like she broke it on purpose, it was an accident."

Selene shrugged, Eve's computer was the last thing she cared about at the moment but she knew Michael was only trying to distract her from the stress of their current situation.

'Might as well humor him, he's only trying to help after all' she thought as she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"I know she didn't do it on purpose love, Eve is really good about taking care of her things, I'm honestly surprised it lasted as long as it did, it was plastic and barely cost a hundred dollars, It was a cheap crappy throwaway thing, I always intended to get her a better one eventually, I just wanted to make sure she'd take care of it before we spent a lot of money. We can get her a MacBook for Christmas and she can use mine for school in the meantime. David's giving her that video game she wanted so we won't have to buy that."

Michael nodded, pulling a book out of the knapsack by his feet, he settled in to read as Selene fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. He turned on the small reading light over his head as the train carried them through the darkness toward home.

Eve sat on her bed glaring at the walls lost in angry thoughts, she couldn't believe her mom refused to let her go home, she was so sick of being treated like a child she could scream. Pulling her iPod out of her purse, she shoved the earbuds in and turned up the volume as loud as it would go as tears streamed down her face. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she jumped a foot and spun around, eyes glowing when David touched her shoulder. Pulling her earbuds out, she glared at him.

"Jeez, say something next time, you scared the crap out of me, didn't anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on people?"

"Sorry, I called your name but I guess you couldn't hear me over the music, I didn't mean to freak you out. What are you listening to?"

He sat beside her handing her a tissue from the box on the bedside table, she shrugged as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose, she crumpled up the Kleenex and tossed it into the trash can across the room.

"Nothing, just random songs, did you need something? No offense, but I kinda wanna be alone right now."

He put his arm around her, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, your computer's a lost cause, the screen is shattered beyond repair, sorry kiddo there's nothing I can do. You can take mine home with you for awhile if you want, I know you need a laptop for your schoolwork, I don't want you to fall behind."

She shrugged.

"I don't care, it was a piece of crap anyway, I always had problems with it, I started saving up to buy an Apple computer like yours but they're over a thousand dollars new, even a used one is like six hundred, it'll take me ages to save that much, I guess I'll just ask my mom or Lena if I can borrow theirs to do my homework. Thanks for the offer, but after I leave here next week, I won't see you again until Christmas, that's four months away, you're gonna need your computer before then for elder stuff, don't you have to take notes on the council meetings or something?"

He frowned at her standing up and crossing his arms over his chest, a look of disapproval on his face.

"What is up with you today Eve, why are you in such a bad mood, is it because you're worried about your brother? Your mom and dad will find him, I have no doubt of that."

She shrugged playing with the edge of the blanket, looking down so her hair hid her face.

"That's part of it, but it's not the only reason," she sighed looking up at him.

"When I told her I wanted to go with them to help find Toby, she completely went off on me, you'd think I told her I was planning to commit some horrible crime or something, she totally overreacted."

"Well, she has a point sweetheart, she loves you, I know she has a hard time showing it sometimes, but you and Toby and your dad are the most important things in the world to her."

"She has a funny way of showing it, she treats me like a five year old, I'm almost fifteen, she once told your father I was the strongest of you all, stronger even than my dad, so why wouldn't she let me go with them, I don't get it."

David sighed trying to hide his irritation.

"Eve, your mother is just trying to protect you, you were really harsh when you told her she wasn't your mother, why do you hate her so much, you're acting like a total spoiled brat. If she didn't love you, she wouldn't have risked getting captured again to rescue you from Antigen after my father turned you over to them, she loves you and you know it, now stop this crap."

David sighed as Eve broke down sobbing, stepping forward he wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug. She lifted her teary eyes to his as he brushed her hair back and before he knew how it happened their lips met, she sighed and wrapped her arms around him as they kissed.

'I shouldn't be doing this, she's still too young'

Just as he was about to break the kiss a voice spoke from the doorway.

"What exactly is going on here?"


End file.
